Thirdmill Institute

Discipleship Badge
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for my sake will save it.
Luke 9:23-24

Christian discipleship is following Jesus and growing in him in your Christian life. It can
be about a lot of things. It can be about character formation. It can be about growing in our
knowledge of the Scriptures. It can be about developing the skills necessary to spread Christ’s
love and message to others. But one thing it will always be about is walking with Jesus in awe
and humility as a learner and follower of him. And this we do together. Discipleship can look
different depending on what is needed and where you live. In this badge, you will discuss what
elements need to be included in discipleship and where and how to do it for others.

Badge Components – Discussion topics will come from these three areas:

Culture – Discipleship where you live

Church – Discipleship where God has called you
Personal – Discipleship where you become what God has called you to be

Discussion Topics:

1. What does discipleship look like in your country?

2. What are the key pieces that go into the discipleship of someone else?

3. How do people change as they grow in their walk with Christ?

4. What models from scripture can we use to think through what discipleship should look
like?

5. What does discipleship currently look like in your church? Draw a picture/diagram that
shows the discipleship process.

6. Make a list of five Scripture passages that center on discipleship.

7. What areas of life should be considered in developing a discipleship program?

8. What were the commandments that was Jesus talking about in John 15?
 9. How is discipleship about character formation or cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit?

10. How many people can/should you disciple at a time?

11. What place should the Bible have in discipleship (read, study, memorize, etc.)?

12. What place should prayer have in discipleship?

13. What is the connection between discipleship and leadership development in your
church?

14. What qualifies someone to start discipling someone else? How do you know when you
have discipled someone as long as you should?

15. How do you both “tell” and “show” in the discipleship process?

16. How will you equip your disciple to disciple others and not just be discipled?

17. What stirs your affections and devotion to Jesus, and how can you incorporate that into
your discipleship of others?

18. What strengthens/lessens the hold of sin on your life?

19. What practices or disciplines have been most helpful in your pursuit of Christ?

Call to Action:

1. Give a report on all that the Lord has done in your life to shape you over the past year.
And, give a report on all that you hope He does in you over the next year.

2. Give a report on all your church is doing to disciple its people. In the final discussion
group time, present a discipleship plan for your church or ministry area based on your
group discussions.

3. Begin discipling another believer.

Badge Criteria:

This badge shall be awarded by the trainer upon successful completion of the call to
action by the student in a manner that is faithfully consistent with the badge components and
in light of the topics discussed throughout the course.
OLD TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS Course Guide
The Pentateuch
The Primeval History
Father Abraham

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The first five books of the Old Testament are commonly called the Pentateuch. They tell the
story of the nation of Israel from creation to preparation for the conquest of the Promised
Land. But is the Pentateuch simply the historical account of God’s chosen people, or is it
something more? This course explores the books of Genesis and Exodus, examining why they
were written, what they meant to their original audience, and how we should respond to them
today. This course is based on the lecture series, The Pentateuch, The Primeval
History and Father Abraham, produced by Third Millennium Ministries and hosted by Dr. Scott
Redd and Dr. Richard L. Pratt, Jr., with contributions from a variety of professors.

COURSE GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND LIST OF MODULES

Goals

In this course, we would like to accomplish the following:

1. We hope that you will make use of all the instructional elements of the course to learn
why the books of the Pentateuch were written, what they meant to their original audience,
and how we should respond to them today.

2. We hope you will grow in your faith, trusting in the grace of God and in His loving,
sovereign guidance.

3. We hope that you will apply the teachings of the Pentateuch to your own life, living more
consistently by faith.

Objectives

When you have done the following, it will show that the goals are met:

1. Obtain satisfactory grades on the tests, demonstrating that you can identify the key
information regarding the structure, content, original meaning and modern application of
the books of the Pentateuch.
 2. Answer the application questions in the study guides, showing how you have applied the
teachings of the course to your own life, especially that you are living by faith, trusting in
the grace of God and in His loving, sovereign guidance.

List of Modules for Old Testament Foundations Course

1. Introduction to the Pentateuch

2. A Perfect World
3. Paradise Lost and Found
4. A World of Violence
5. The Right Direction
6. Life of Abraham: Structure, Content, and Original Meaning
7. Life of Abraham: Modern Application
8. The Patriarch Jacob
9. Joseph and His Brothers
10. An Overview of Exodus

EXPLANATION OF COURSE ELEMENTS

Badge

1. Each week, part of your group discussion time should be devoted to working through
the Badge document. This two-page guide will provide a general direction for your
Trainer as you seek to develop this vital ministry skill.
2. In the first few weeks, part of your discussion time will be spent walking through the
Discussion Topics given in the Badge Instructions.
3. Once a solid foundation has been laid through the group discussion times, spend the
remaining weeks working through the badge Call to Action.
4. You will be awarded the badge once your Trainer has determined the completion of the
action steps in light of the Badge Instructions.

Modules

1. Study the lessons; watching the video, listening to the audio, or reading the manuscript.
2. Complete the Study Guide for each module. These study guides will prepare you for the
online quiz.
3. Take the online Quiz for each module. The quizzes may be taken as many times as you
want, but you must wait one hour between each attempt. Your highest grade will be the
official grade. We suggest achieving at least an 80% before participating in the weekly
discussion to ensure you understand the concepts correctly.
 4. Participate in the weekly discussions with your group and Trainer, utilizing the
Discussion Guide. These discussions are vital to your full understanding of the course
material and your ability to correctly apply the concepts to your life and ministry. We
recommend the discussion for each module last at least one hour.

Final Exam

You may take the test as many times as you want for review, but you must wait one hour
between each attempt. The official grade will be your highest grade, and in order to
complete the course, you must achieve at least an 80% on the Final Exam.

GRADES

The final grade will be calculated as follows:

1. The quizzes on the lectures are each worth 30 points.

2. The final exam on the lectures is worth 100 points.
3. The Badge won’t affect your grade but must be completed to the satisfaction of the
Trainer and marked as complete on the Foundations Certificate Checklist.

A total course score above 80% is considered passing.

------------------------------------

List of Contributors to this course (institutions listed relative to the time of recording)

Dr. Steve Blakemore is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wesley Biblical Seminary.

Dr. Stephen J. Bramer is Department Chair and Professor of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological
Seminary.
Dr. Robert B. Chisholm, Jr. is Department Chair and Professor of Old Testament at Dallas Theological
Seminary.
Dr. Don Collett is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Trinity School for Ministry.
Dr. Dorian Coover-Cox is Associate Professor of Old Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Dr. Brandon D. Crowe is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary.
Prof. Thomas Egger is Assistant Professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary.
[Link] J. Glodo is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Reformed Theological Seminary’s
Orlando Campus.
Dr. Douglas Gropp is Professor of Old Testament at Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas.
Rev. Dr. Cyprian K. Guchienda is Pastor to the Nations at Highlands Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas,
Texas.
Dr. Jim Hamilton is Associate Professor of Biblical Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary and Preaching Pastor of Kenwood Baptist Church.
Dr. Gordon H. Johnston is Professor of Old Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Dr. Carol Kaminski is Professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Dr. Riad Kassis is Regional Director for Overseas Council, an international training ministry for Christian
leaders.
Dr. Craig Keener is the F.M. and Ada Thompson Chair of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary.
Dr. David Lamb is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Biblical Theological Seminary.
Dr. Erika Moore is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Trinity School for Ministry.
Dr. John Oswalt is the Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary.
Dr. Thomas Petter is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Dr. Richard L. Pratt, Jr. is President of Third Millennium Ministries and Adjunct Professor of Old
Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary’s Orlando Campus.
Rev. Dr. Paul R. Raabe is Professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Seminary.
Dr. J. Scott Redd is Campus President of Reformed Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. and
Assistant Professor of Old Testament.
Dr. Brian D. Russell is Professor of Biblical Studies and Dean of the School of Urban Ministry at Asbury
Theological Seminary’s Orlando Campus.
Dr. Timothy E. Saleska is Dean of Ministerial Formation and Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology
at Concordia Seminary.
Dr. Douglas Stuart is Professor of Old Testament and Chair of Biblical Studies at Gordon-Conwell
Theological Seminary.
Dr. David Talley is Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Talbot School of Theology.
Rev. Dr. Michael Walker is Theologian-in-residence at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas,
Texas.
Dr. Larry J. Waters is Professor of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary.
Dr. Michael D. Williams is Professor of Systematic Theology at Covenant Theological Seminary.
Study Guide
Old Testament Foundations
Module Six – The Life of Abraham – Structure, Content and
Original Meaning
Instructions: Each study guide is divided into sections with time codes that correspond to the main
categories covered in each module. Sections contain two main components: an Outline for Taking Notes
and Review Questions. You should utilize the Outline for Taking Notes while you watch the video
lectures, and then answer the Review Questions in preparation for the module quiz. For more
information about best ways to utilize the study guides, refer back to the Student Orientation Manual.
Also, be sure to save the study guides as they will be an excellent resource to prepare for this course’s
final exam.

**********************************

OUTLINE FOR TAKING NOTES on minute 0:00 – 20:50

Introduction

I. Literary Design

A. Genesis

B. Abraham

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Why do nations normally pass on memories from generation to generation?

2. According to the lesson, what was the intention of the biblical authors as they recorded history? How
did this affect the accuracy of their records?

3. How does Dr. Pratt prefer to divide Genesis into sections for the purpose of making an outline?

4. Why does Dr. Pratt not include Isaac as a division of the section of early patriarchal history?

5. List the 17 episodes in the life of Abraham, as Dr. Pratt names them. Explain how these episodes are
related to each other.

6. List the names of the five “clusters” of episodes in the life of Abraham, as Dr. Pratt divides them.
Explain the symmetry of their arrangement.
OUTLINE FOR TAKING NOTES on minute 20:51 – 48:33 End of first lesson in this Module

II. Major Themes

A. Key Passage

B. Unfolding

1. Divine Grace

2. Abraham’s Loyalty

3. Blessings to Abraham

4. Blessings through Abraham

Conclusion

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. According to Dr. Pratt, what is the key passage in the Genesis account of Abraham? Write out these
verses. Make sure you are very familiar with their contents. Explain how these key verses are organized.

2. Explain the apparent contradiction between Acts 7:2-4 and the Genesis account of the life of Abraham.
How does Dr. Pratt deal with this?

3. List the major themes in the biblical account of the life of Abraham, as given in the lesson, and give a
brief explanation of each one.
OUTLINE FOR TAKING NOTES on minute 0:00 – 28:11 of the second lesson in this Module

Introduction

I. Connections

A. Definition

B. Types

1. Backgrounds

2. Models

3. Foreshadows

C. Summation

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What is Dr. Pratt’s opinion about the author of Genesis?

2. Dr. Pratt says that when Moses wrote about Abraham, he was making “connections” between “that
world” and “their world.” What does he mean by this?

3. According to the lesson, how did Moses make use of the BACKGROUND of Abraham to try to encourage
the Israelites to continue on to Canaan after the exodus?

4. According to the lesson, how did Moses make use of Abraham as a MODEL to try to encourage the
Israelites to continue on to Canaan after the exodus?

5. What does Dr. Pratt mean by a “foreshadow”? Explain the two foreshadows from the life of Abraham
that are mentioned in the lesson.

6. Give the example from each period of Abraham’s life of how Moses made a connection between
Abraham many years ago and Israel at the time of Moses.
OUTLINE FOR TAKING NOTES on minute 28:12 – 1:06:44

II. Implications

A. Basic Impact

B. Major Themes

1. Divine Grace

2. Abraham’s Loyalty

3. Blessings to Abraham

4. Blessings through Abraham

C. Five Steps

1. Background and Early Experiences

2. Early Contacts with Others

3. Covenant with God

4. Later Contacts with Others

5. Progeny and Death

Conclusion

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. According to Dr. Pratt, what is the main reason Moses wrote about Abraham?

2. Moses touched on four major themes as he wrote about Abraham. Describe each need in Israel that he
is addressing as he touches each of these themes.

3. Moses wrote about Abraham’s BACKGROUND AND EARLY EXPERIENCES in order to make applications
for Israel in his time. Describe the practical implication that Moses makes from each episode of this stage
in the life of Abraham.

4. Moses wrote about Abraham’s EARLY CONTACTS WITH OTHERS in order to make applications for Israel
in his time. List the name of each episode and describe the practical implication Moses makes from each
episode of this stage in the life of Abraham.

5. Moses wrote about the COVENANT OF GOD with Abraham in order to make applications for Israel in his
time. List the name of each episode and describe the practical implication Moses makes from each
episode in this stage of Abraham’s life.

6. Moses wrote about the LATER CONTACTS of Abraham with others in order to make applications for
Israel in his time. List the name of each episode and describe the practical implication Moses makes from
each episode in this stage of Abraham’s life.
7. Moses wrote about the PROGENY AND DEATH of Abraham in order to make applications for Israel in his
time. List the name of each episode and describe the practical implication Moses makes from each
episode in this stage of Abraham’s life.
 Father Abraham

THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM:

LESSON
ONE STRUCTURE AND
CONTENT

For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at [Link].
For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at [Link].
© 2012 by Third Millennium Ministries
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any
means for profit, except in brief quotations for the purposes of review, comment, or
scholarship, without written permission from the publisher, Third Millennium Ministries,
Inc., 316 Live Oaks Blvd., Casselberry, Florida 32707.

Unless otherwise indicated all Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW
INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 International Bible
Society. Used by Permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

ABOUT THIRD MILLENNIUM MINISTRIES

Founded in 1997, Third Millennium Ministries is a nonprofit Christian
organization dedicated to providing Biblical Education. For the World. For Free.
In response to the growing global need for sound, biblically-based Christian
leadership training, we are building a user-friendly, donor-supported, multimedia
seminary curriculum in five major languages (English, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin
Chinese, and Arabic) and distributing it freely to those who need it most, primarily
Christian leaders who have no access to, or cannot afford, traditional education. All
lessons are written, designed, and produced in-house, and are similar in style and
quality to those on the History Channel©. This unparalleled, cost-effective method
for training Christian leaders has proven to be very effective throughout the world.
We have won Telly Awards for outstanding video production in Education and Use
of Animation, and our curriculum is currently used in more than 192 countries.
Third Millennium materials take the form of DVD, print, Internet streaming,
satellite television transmission, and radio and television broadcasts.
For more information about our ministry and to learn how you can get involved,
please visit [Link]

ii.
For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at [Link].
Contents
I. Introduction .....................................................................................................1
II. Literary Design................................................................................................1
A. Genesis 2
B. Abraham 3
1. Basic Units 3
2. Arrangement 4
III. Major Themes .................................................................................................6
A. Key Passage 6
1. Introduction 7
2. Part One 7
3. Part Two 8
B. Unfolding 9
1. Divine Grace 9
2. Abraham’s Loyalty 10
3. Blessings to Abraham 11
4. Blessings through Abraham 12
IV. Conclusion .......................................................................................................13

iii.
For videos, study guides and other resources, visit Third Millennium Ministries at [Link].
 Father Abraham
Lesson One
The Life of Abraham: Structure and Content

INTRODUCTION
We all know that there are many differences among the nations of the earth. They
all have their own geography, distinguishing ethnic groups and unique traditions. But at
least one thing is common among most countries: we all have stories about how our
nations began. So many of us love to hear about the sacrifices and accomplishments of
the people who founded our countries. We sing the praises of their heroism.
Why do we cherish and share these stories of origin so much? Why is this such an
important part of nearly every human culture?
Well, there are at least two reasons. On the one side, we talk about the origins of
our nations to pass on memories of the past. We want our children to remember their
roots, where they came from. But on the other side, we also want to remember the ideals
that guided our nations in the past so that we can find direction for the future.
Well, something like this was true for the people of God in the Old Testament as
well. The ancient Israelites cherished stories about their beginnings and passed them from
generation to generation for the same two reasons. They told about the days of their
ancestors to remember events long ago so that the great accomplishments of the past
would not be forgotten. But they also passed these stories from generation to generation
to remind themselves of the direction they should go in the future.
This is the first lesson in our series entitled, Father Abraham. In this series we
will explore the stories that ancient Israelites told about Abraham, their great patriarch.
And we will see that Moses wrote these stories in the book of Genesis so that the
Israelites in his day would remember the past, and so that they would also understand
more clearly the future God had in store for them.
This is the first of three lessons in this series, and we have entitled it, “The Life of
Abraham: Structure and Content.” In this lesson we will begin our overview of
Abraham’s life by concentrating on the structure and content of the chapters in Genesis
that speak about him. How did Moses structure his account of Abraham’s life? What
were the main concerns of these chapters?
We will explore the structure and content of Abraham’s life in two parts: first, we
will look at the literary design of this material. And second, we will examine the major
themes of these chapters. Let’s look first at the literary design of Abraham’s life.

LITERARY DESIGN
Whenever we approach portions of Scripture like the life of Abraham that consist
primarily of narratives or stories, we must remember that biblical writers did more than
simply tell us the truth about what happened long ago. Because the Holy Spirit inspired

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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

them to be God’s spokesmen, the history that they wrote was entirely true. But the Holy
Spirit inspired them to address the needs of the people for whom they wrote, so biblical
authors also wrote about history with their readers in mind. They intentionally designed
their stories so that these stories would be relevant to the lives of the people who received
them.
As we approach the record of Abraham’s life in Genesis, we can be confident that
these stories do not misrepresent what actually happened in Abraham’s life. But in order
to understand how these stories applied to the lives of Moses’ original readers, we must
also be aware of how Genesis portrays Abraham’s life. And one of the chief ways we can
begin to understand how Abraham is portrayed is to explore the literary design of
Abraham’s life in Genesis.
We’ll explore the literary design of Abraham’s life in two steps. In the first place,
we will present an overview of the book of Genesis as a whole, and we will see how
Abraham’s story fits within the larger picture of Genesis. And in the second place, we
will look at the structure of the stories that focus on Abraham’s life. Let’s begin with an
overview of the entire book of Genesis.

GENESIS
Throughout the centuries, different interpreters have understood the overarching
structure of Genesis in different ways. One approach has been to divide Genesis into ten
segments based on the repetition of the so-called “generations” or “toledot” passages
scattered throughout the book of Genesis. And we should admit that there is some value
in this large-scale outlook. But we have suggested in other series’ that it is much more
helpful to think of Genesis in three large sections: the primeval history in Genesis 1:1–
11:9; the early patriarchal history in 11:10–37:1; and the later patriarchal history in 37:2–
50:26.
The primeval history of Genesis 1:1–11:9 presents God’s revealed truth about the
origins of the world. It speaks of the creation, the corruption of creation, and the
reshaping of creation through a worldwide flood. And it holds together as a literary unit
in the ways it resembles the patterns of many ancient near eastern primeval histories.
The later patriarchal history in 37:2–50:26 tells the story of Joseph. It begins with
the story of conflict between Joseph and his brothers, then moves to Joseph’s rise to
power in Egypt and Joseph’s reconciliation with his brothers in the end. Many
interpreters have described this large, unified storyline as a novella about Joseph.
Between these first and last sections is Genesis 11:10–37:1. These chapters
contain the early patriarchal history, collections of stories about the first fathers of the
nation of Israel. In this series, we are concerned with one portion of this middle segment
of Genesis.
In general terms, the early patriarchal history divides into two parts: the life of
Abraham in 11:10–25:18 and the life of Jacob in 25:19–37:1. Now this twofold division
may be surprising at first because in Scripture we frequently hear mention of three early
patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So, we might have reasonably expected the literary
structure of these chapters to be threefold as well, first telling us about Abraham, then
about Isaac and then about Jacob. But in actuality, no portion of the early patriarchal
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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

history is devoted to Isaac as the main figure. Instead, he serves only as a transitional
figure. His life is told first as a part of Abraham’s life and then as a part of Jacob’s life.
And as a result, the early patriarchal history actually divides into only two main parts: the
life of Abraham and then the life of Jacob. Our concern in this series is with the first half
of the patriarchal period, Moses’ record of Father Abraham. So let’s take a closer look at
the structure of Abraham’s life as it is presented in Genesis 11:10–25:18.

ABRAHAM

Now that we have seen where the life of Abraham fits within the overarching
structure of Genesis, we should turn to our next concern: the structure of Abraham’s life
in Genesis 11:10–25:18. To explore the structure of Abraham’s life, we will look at these
chapters on two levels: on the one hand, we will simply identify the basic units or
episodes of Abraham’s life, and on the other hand, we will examine how these various
episodes have been arranged into the portrait of Abraham we have in Genesis. Let’s first
identify the basic units or episodes of Abraham’s life.

Basic Units
Moses wrote about Abraham’s life in seventeen basic segments or episodes:

1. First, Abraham’s favored lineage (in 11:10-26), a genealogy that describes

Abraham’s family heritage.
2. This passage is followed by an account of Abraham’s failing father (in 11:27-
32), a second genealogy that describes Abraham’s travels with his father
Terah.
3. Abraham’s migration to Canaan (in 12:1-9), the story of Abraham’s initial call
and travel to the Promised Land.
4. Abraham’s deliverance from Egypt (in 12:10-20), the time when Abraham
sojourned in Egypt and God delivered him.
5. Abraham’s conflict with Lot (in 13:1-18), the story of struggle between
Abraham’s men and Lot’s men.
6. Abraham’s rescue of Lot (in 14:1-24), the time when Abraham went to war to
rescue Lot from kings who had captured him.
7. Abraham’s covenant promises (in 15:1-21), the account of God’s covenant
assuring Abraham that he would have many descendants and a permanent
homeland.
8. Abraham’s failure with Hagar (in 16:1-16), the time when Abraham had a
child, Ishmael, with Sarah’s handmaiden, Hagar.
9. Abraham’s covenant requirements (in 17:1-27), the account of God’s
covenant that reminded Abraham of the necessity of loyalty to the commands
of God.

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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

10. Sodom and Gomorrah (in 18:1– 19:38), the story of the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah and Lot’s rescue from that destruction.
11. Abraham’s intercession for Abimelech (in 20:1-18), the time when Abraham
prayed for Abimelech the Philistine.
12. Abraham’s sons Isaac and Ishmael (in 21:1-21), the story of Isaac’s birth and
the expulsion of Ishmael from Abraham’s family.
13. Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech (in 21:22-34), the time when Abraham
entered into an agreement with Abimelech over land and water rights.
14. Abraham’s test (in 22:1-24), the well-known episode in which God called
Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
15. Abraham’s burial property (in 23:1-20), the story of Sarah’s death and the
purchase of a burial site.
16. A wife for Abraham’s son Isaac (in 24:1-67), the time when Rebekah became
Isaac’s wife.
17. And finally, Abraham’s death and heir (in 25:1-18), the closing story of
Abraham’s passing and the record of his descendants.

As we can see, the story of Abraham’s life follows the basic order of events as
they occurred in his life. The stories begin with him relatively young and under the
authority of his father, and they end up with Abraham growing old and dying. On
occasion, there are allusions and implicit connections among the various episodes of
Abraham’s life. But by comparison with other portions of the Old Testament, Abraham’s
life story consists of a series of seventeen relatively independent episodes. Each of these
episodes was designed to report events in Abraham’s life and to teach specific lessons to
Moses’ original Israelite audience. As Moses led them from Egypt toward the Promised
Land, each of these episodes was to have much to offer them as they lived their lives just
as it has much to offer us as we live our lives today.
Having introduced the basic episodes of Abraham’s life, we are now in a position
to explore how these units hold together. How is the story of Abraham unified? What
logic organizes them? Simply put, the episodes of Abraham’s life cluster around specific
themes and these clusters form five symmetrical or balancing steps.

Arrangement
First, as we might expect at the beginning of the patriarch’s life, Moses’ record
begins with Abraham’s background and early experiences with God. This section
includes: Abraham’s favored lineage, his failing father, and his migration to Canaan.
These chapters explain how Abraham entered into his special relationship with God by
focusing on his family’s background and his initial migration to the Promised Land.
The second cluster of episodes in Abraham’s life concentrates on Abraham’s
earlier contacts with other peoples in 12:10 though 14:24. It includes his deliverance from
Egypt, his conflict with Lot, and his rescue of Lot. These three episodes hold together
because they concentrate primarily on Abraham’s encounters and interactions with
representatives of several groups of people. In these chapters the patriarch dealt primarily

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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

with the Pharaoh of Egypt, his nephew Lot, invading kings, the king of Sodom and
Melchizedek the king of Salem.
The third and central section of Abraham’s life focuses on Abraham’s covenant
relationship with God in 15:1–17:27. This portion of the patriarch’s life consists of three
episodes: Abraham’s covenant promises, Abraham’s failure with Hagar, and Abraham’s
covenant requirements.
The fourth section, which appears in 18:1–21:34, turns to Abraham’s later
contacts with other peoples. These chapters hold together primarily because they
concentrate on Abraham’s interactions with other groups of people. These chapters
describe Abraham in relation to Sodom and Gomorrah. We find Abraham’s intercession
for Abimelech, Abraham in relationship with Isaac and Ishmael, and Abraham’s treaty
with Abimelech. These four episodes further illustrate how the patriarch interacted with
Lot and his family, as well as how he related to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and
to the Philistine Abimelech.
As we might expect, the fifth and final section of the patriarch’s life in 22:1–
25:18, deals with matters toward the end of Abraham’s life, especially with his progeny
and death. It records how God tested Abraham. It records Abraham’s purchase of burial
property. It records how Abraham found a wife for his son Isaac. And it also records
Abraham’s death. These chapters focus on Abraham’s wife Sarah and her son Isaac (the
true heir of Abraham), giving them honor over Abraham’s other wives and their sons.
Because the episodes of Abraham’s life are relatively independent of each other,
when people first read about Abraham, they often have a sense of wandering aimlessly
from one event to another. They read the stories of Abraham as if Moses mentioned this
event and that event with little forethought or planning. But despite this first impression,
the stories of Abraham’s life are actually organized into batches or groups of episodes
that share central themes. Our simple five-step outline reveals that Moses actually
planned what he was going to say about Abraham. On a large scale the record of
Abraham’s life takes the shape of a symmetrical drama. Each part balances with a
corresponding part in the drama.
In 11:10–12:9, we find attention focused on Abraham’s family background and on
his initial experiences with God. In contrasting balance with these initial concerns, the
closing material in 22:1–25:18 gives attention to Abraham’s final years and to his
progeny.
Beyond this, the second section of Abraham’s life consists of episodes that
primarily delineate Abraham’s interactions with people from other tribes and nations.
And by circular symmetry, returning to similar themes handled in the second part, the
fourth section of Abraham’s life returns to a focus on more examples of Abraham’s
encounters with others.
Finally, in the middle of Abraham’s life, are three pivotal chapters that focus
especially on Abraham’s covenant with God. These chapters form the pivotal center of
Abraham’s life and explain the fundamental dynamics of the covenant relationship that
Abraham and his descendants had with God.
The shape of these chapters reveals that Moses carefully crafted his account. He
constructed a literary portrait of Israel’s first patriarch to draw attention to certain aspects
of his life: Abraham’s selection to blessing and his rightful heir, Abraham’s earlier and
later interactions, and Abraham’s covenant relationship with God. And as we are going to
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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

see, this literary focus was designed to address the needs of the Israelites to whom Moses
first wrote these stories. The life of Abraham taught the Israelites how they were to
follow in the footsteps of Abraham as Moses led them toward the Promised Land. And as
we approach this portion of Genesis, we are going to see the importance of this
intentional design time and time again.
Having seen the overarching literary design of the life of Abraham, we should
turn to the second topic of our lesson on the structure and content of Abraham’s life: the
main themes of Genesis 11:10–25:18. Although there are many ways to describe the
content of these chapters, we will see that the outline we have suggested roughly
corresponds to the prominent themes of these chapters.

MAJOR THEMES
Needless to say, it is difficult to describe the main themes of any portion of
Scripture that is as long and complex as Abraham’s life. It is just not possible to mention
every motif or theme that appears in these chapters. But it is possible to isolate several
motifs that are more prominent than others. And as we will see, these major themes in
these chapters unify the stories of Abraham’s life, and they help us understand the main
ideas Moses wanted his original Israelite readers to draw from the life of Abraham. And
more than this, we can also see, in these main themes, what God intends for us to learn
from this part of Scripture.
We will look into the main themes of Abraham’s life in two ways: First, we will
examine a key passage that introduces the four main themes of Abraham’s life. And
second, we will explore the ways these themes are unfolded throughout the chapters of
Abraham’s life. Let’s turn first to a key passage that introduces the themes of the story of
Abraham.

KEY PASSAGE
I’m sure you will recall that near the opening of the story of Abraham’s life, we
find God’s call to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. While Abraham still lived in Ur of
Mesopotamia God called Abraham to go to the Promised Land. For many years now,
interpreters have recognized that these verses introduce some of the most crucial motifs
found in the larger story of Abraham’s life. Listen to what Moses wrote in these verses:

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and
your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 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” (Genesis 12:1-3).

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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

These three verses are packed with significance and can be summarized in many different
ways. On a grammatical level, they begin with an introduction in the first portion of verse
1. Then they continue with God’s words to Abraham, which divide into two parts. Part
one, in the second half of verse 1 through most of verse 2 consists of an imperative
followed by three independent verbal expressions. Part two of what God said to Abraham
appears in the last portion of verse 2 and in verse 3. This second half follows the same
grammatical pattern as the first half. It is introduced by an imperative that is followed by
three independent verbal expressions. By looking at these three divisions of Genesis
12:1-3 we can gain some important insights into the significance of this passage.

Introduction
Listen first to the simple way Moses introduced God’s words to Abraham in
verse 1:

The Lord had said to Abram (Genesis 12:1).

A number of modern translations correctly observe that the verb in this line
should be translated “the Lord had said” instead of “the Lord said.” This translation is
important because according to Stephen’s speech in Acts 7:2-4, Abraham received his
call in Ur before his father, Terah, died in Haran. But in the literary presentation of
Genesis, we learn first that Terah died in 11:32 and then we learn in Genesis 12:1 that
God called Abraham. For this reason, Genesis 12:1 represents a flashback, a regression in
time, and should be translated “the Lord had said.” This verse recalls an earlier moment
before Abraham had begun to do anything in response to God, long before he had begun
to move toward the Promised Land.

Part One
Following this introduction, we come upon the first half of God’s words to
Abraham. This first half begins with an imperative verb indicating a command. In
Genesis 12:1 we read these words:

Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go
to the land I will show you (Genesis 12:1).

As we can see, this section opens with the imperative, “leave” (or as the NIV paraphrases
it “leave … and go”). God commanded Abraham to do something: to go to the land of
Canaan. This is the first and primary command God gave to the Patriarch.
After the command to leave for the Promised Land, the first part of God’s words
to Abraham divides into three sections indicated by three independent verbal expressions
in the first part of verse 2. Look again at Genesis 12:2:

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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; and I will
make your name great (Genesis 12:2).

These words focus on blessings that God presented to Abraham as he called him. First,
God said he would make Abraham into a great nation. Second, he offered to bless
Abraham with prosperity. And third, he said he would give Abraham and his descendants
a great name, or reputation.

Part Two
Now we come to the second half of God’s words to Abraham. Although most
modern translations do not enable us to see it, the second part of God’s words to
Abraham parallels the grammatical structure of the first half. It begins with an imperative
followed by three independent verbal expressions. In Genesis 12:2-3 we read these
words:

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 (Genesis 12:2-3).

The Hebrew verb, translated here, “You will be a blessing,” is imperative in form, and
probably designed to parallel the form of the command “leave” in verse 1. But this
imperative does not function as a command. It may be translated in a number of ways
such as: “and you will be a blessing,” or “and may you be a blessing,” or even, “and you
will certainly be a blessing.” In all events, this imperative marks an important transition
in thought. It shifts attention away from Abraham receiving blessings (as we have seen in
the first part of verse 2) to Abraham becoming a conduit of blessings to others.
This second imperative form is also followed by three independent verbal
expressions. These three verbs indicate the process by which Abraham would become a
blessing to others. First, God said, “I will bless those who bless you …” That is, God
would give good things to those who dealt positively with Abraham. When people treated
Abraham well, God would treat them well. Second, God promised, “whoever curses you,
I will curse …” That is, God would curse those who disdained Abraham. God promised
to protect Abraham from harm by responding harshly to those who made themselves
Abraham’s enemies. But in the third place, God said, “all peoples … will be blessed
through you.” At first glance, this third focus may seem to contradict the theme of
cursing for Abraham’s enemies, but God promised Abraham that by means of a twofold
process of blessing Abraham’s friends and cursing his enemies, God would extend his
blessings ultimately to all the families of the earth. So we see that the grammar of the
opening of Genesis chapter 12 divides into three main parts: an introduction, a focus on
blessings God would give to Abraham and a focus on the blessings that God would bring
to the whole world through Abraham.
Understanding the structure of these verses in Genesis chapter 12 is important
because in many respects the stories of Abraham in Genesis illustrate how these promises
God made to Abraham were fulfilled in his life. As Moses wrote about the patriarch, he
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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

shaped his stories in ways that drew attention to the words that God spoke to Abraham as
he called him to the Promised Land.
With this grammatical structure in mind, we are ready to see how the main themes
of Abraham’s life unfold from Genesis 12:1-3.

UNFOLDING
We will note that there are four major themes that appear in these verses. We will
begin with divine grace toward Abraham. Then we will continue with the requirement of
Abraham’s loyalty to God, then God’s blessings to Abraham, and finally God’s blessings
through Abraham.

Divine Grace
The first motif, which occurs many times in the life of Abraham, is that God’s
relationship with Abraham was based on his grace. Divine grace appears in a subtle way
in the introductory words of Genesis 12:1. As we have seen, there we read these words:

The Lord had said to Abram (Genesis 12:1).

These simple words reminded Moses’ original audience that Abraham’s relationship with
God came about because God had entered into Abraham’s life long before Abraham had
done anything in service to God.
Abraham’s call came very early in his adult life. He had not left for Canaan; he
had not conquered enemies; he had not committed to covenant faithfulness; he had not
prayed for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah; he had not passed any test of faith. On
the contrary, God called Abraham as his special servant simply because it pleased God to
be gracious to Abraham.
Now of course, God’s grace was not only shown in the initial stage of Abraham’s
walk with God. The grace of God is a theme that appears throughout the stories of
Abraham because God also showed mercy to the patriarch at every moment of his life.
Because Abraham was a sinner, Abraham was in need of God’s mercy all the time. For
example, in the well-known verse Genesis 15:6 we learn that even Abraham’s saving
righteousness was a gift of mercy. There we read these words:

Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness

(Genesis 15:6).

As the apostle Paul pointed out in Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6 the fact that God
credited Abraham with righteousness indicated that this was an act of mercy, not a
reward for good works. And it was through divine grace and mercy that Abraham
received this and many other blessings from God.

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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

As Christians we all know the importance of God’s grace in our lives. We know
that God initiates our relationship with him by his grace and we know that he sustains us
in our relationship with him by his grace. Where would we be without the mercy of God?
Well, the same thing was true for Abraham. And more than this, God’s grace was also
essential for the lives of the Israelites for whom Moses wrote about Abraham. They too
needed God’s mercy in their lives in their day, day after day. And for this reason, as
Moses composed his stories of Abraham’s life, he drew their attention over and over to
God’s grace.

Abraham’s Loyalty

In addition to the theme of God’s grace, we should also notice that Genesis 12:1-3
stresses Abraham’s loyalty. God did not merely choose Abraham to receive his mercy; he
showed mercy to the patriarch so that Abraham would respond with faithful obedience.
As we have seen, the first imperative of Genesis 12:1 stresses Abraham’s responsibility
to be faithful to the Lord in a particular way. God commanded him there:

Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go
to the land I will show you (Genesis 12:1).

It doesn’t take much imagination to see that this divine call required enormous loyalty
from Abraham. He was to leave his homeland and his father’s estate behind and to go to a
place yet to be shown him. Yes, God had shown mercy to Abraham, but Abraham was
also expected to show deep-seated, loyal service to God.
Unfortunately, many Christians tend to think of Abraham merely as an example
of faith and trust in God. This is an important theme in Abraham’s life and it is
highlighted in several New Testament passages. But we must never overlook the fact that
God commanded Abraham to be obedient, to give him his loyal service. God required
loyalty from the patriarch many times. He was to be faithful to God in every
circumstance.
Perhaps the most dramatic example of a time when Abraham was required to
show his loyalty to God is found in Genesis 22, a time when God commanded the
patriarch to sacrifice his son Isaac to prove that he loved God more than he loved his son.
It would be hard to imagine a higher requirement from God.
Although Abraham was required to show faithfulness in this and many other
ways, Genesis 12:1 makes clear one of the most important responsibilities Abraham had.
There God said:

Go to the land I will show you (Genesis 12:1).

As this passage demonstrates, Abraham was required to go to the land that God would
show him. Abraham was to inhabit the land of promise, and this theme appears many
times in the stories about the Patriarch. It was very important to the larger plan of God
both for Abraham and his faithful descendants that the Patriarch go to the Promised Land.
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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

And when we recall that Moses wrote these stories about Abraham for Israelites whom he
was himself leading toward the Promised Land, it is not surprising at all to see this
emphasis.
As followers of Christ, we understand that although salvation is a free gift of
God’s grace, God expects us to show our gratitude to him by doing our best to obey his
commands. Moses understood this principle as well. He knew that God’s grace to
Abraham led Abraham to be loyal to God. And for this reason, we are going to see that
the requirement of loyalty appears many times as we study the life of Abraham. Moses
knew something about his original Israelite audience. They were prone to forget the
importance of faithful living before God. Although God had shown them much mercy as
he delivered them from Egypt and sustained them in the wilderness, they turned from
God’s commandments. And for this reason, one of the main themes in the stories of
Abraham was Abraham’s loyalty to God. This theme appears so frequently because
Moses’ original audience, and we today as well, need to be motivated to serve God in
faithful obedience.

Blessings to Abraham
As we have seen so far, God showed much grace to Abraham, and required
faithful devotion from him. The third theme we should notice in Genesis 12:1-3 is the
blessings offered to Abraham. You’ll recall that God said this to the Patriarch in Genesis
12:2:

I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make
your name great (Genesis 12:2).

God offered the patriarch three blessings. In the first place, God said that Abraham would
become a great nation. His progeny would grow beyond number. And his descendants
would actually become an empire, a grand nation. At that time Abraham and those who
were with him were relatively few in number. And Abraham had no children of his own.
Yet, God promised that the number of Abraham’s descendants would one day be more
than the stars in the sky.
In the second place, God told Abraham that he would bless him. In all likelihood,
this expression means that Abraham and his descendants would receive the blessing of
tremendous prosperity. Abraham and his descendants would live in abundance and
wealth. They would not be wanderers on the earth, nor would they be mere settlers. As
Abraham and his children proved faithful, they would enjoy great prosperity.
In the third place, God’s offer of blessing entailed the bestowal of a great name on
Abraham. In other words, if Abraham would go to the Promised Land and serve God
faithfully, the massive numbers and prosperity of his descendants would make him, and
them, honored throughout the world. Great glory would come to the patriarch and his
faithful descendants.
In fact, throughout the stories of Abraham, Moses pointed out over and over that
these kinds of blessings were poured out on Abraham. Abraham had sons; he gained
wealth as he went from one experience to another. He became a well-known figure in the
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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

region. For the Israelites who heard these stories, Abraham’s blessings brought great
hope for their future blessings as well. The gifts of descendants, prosperity and fame
given to the patriarch were mere foreshadows of even greater gifts God would give to
Abraham’s faithful descendants.
As Christians, we have received so many blessings from God that we can hardly
name them all. And of course, the Israelites who followed Moses toward the Promised
Land had also received countless blessings from God. They had been delivered from
slavery; they had increased in number; they had been protected and sustained throughout
their entire journey and they were on their way to the land of promise, a land of great
blessing in the future. But the Israelites were like us, prone to forget all that God had
done for them and what was in store for them. So Moses wrote about God’s blessings to
Abraham to remind his Israelite audience of the blessings that God had given them in
their lives so that their hearts would be filled with gratitude.

Blessings through Abraham

In addition to God’s mercy, Abraham’s loyalty, and God’s blessings to Abraham,
Genesis 12:1-3 also draws attention to the fact that blessings would come through
Abraham to other peoples. Remember what God said in Genesis 12:2-3:

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 (Genesis 12:2-3).

These words explained that Abraham would not only receive blessings but that all
peoples on earth will be blessed through him. God did not call Abraham to the Promised
Land simply to enrich his life and the lives of his descendants. God called Abraham to be
a conduit of divine blessings to all the families of the earth. Now it is important to
remember that this passage teaches that Abraham’s worldwide blessing would come
about in two ways. In Genesis 12:3 God said:

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse
(Genesis 12:3).

According to this passage, Abraham would serve as a double-edged sword among human
beings. Because Abraham was favored by God, when people from other nations blessed
Abraham, that is, when they honored him and thus honored the God whom he served,
then God would bless them. But when people of other nations cursed or attacked
Abraham and thus disdained Abraham’s God, God would punish them. The fates of other
peoples depended on how they treated Abraham.
In his lifetime, Abraham came into contact with many people representing other
nations such as the Philistines, the Canaanites, the Egyptians, and his nephew Lot, who
was the father of the Moabites and the Ammonites. These interactions were significant
because they showed specific ways in which God kept his word to bless and curse other

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Father Abraham Lesson One:The Life of Abraham:Structure and Content

peoples depending on how they treated Abraham. They also indicated that even in his
own lifetime Abraham had begun to become a blessing to the world.
All too often it is easy for God’s people to forget this important teaching. The
Israelites in Moses’ day were like many Christians living today. We enjoy the blessing of
salvation from God and life from God, but we forget why these blessings have been given
to each of us. Each and every blessing God gave to Israel under Moses’ leadership and
each and every blessing he gives to his church today is designed for a greater purpose.
We have been blessed so that we will spread the blessings of God throughout the world.
God called Abraham to himself so that Abraham would lead the nations of the world into
God’s blessings. God called Israel to himself in Moses’ day so that they would lead the
nations of the world into God’s blessings. And God has called the church to himself
today so that we may lead the nations of the world into the blessings of God. This theme
was so important for the Israelites who first received the stories of Abraham. And it is
important for us too as we follow Christ in our day.

CONCLUSION
In this lesson we have taken our first look at an overview of the life of Abraham.
And we have focused our attention on the structure, or design, of this portion of Genesis.
And we have also examined the main themes, or content, that Moses presented in
Abraham’s life in the context of this literary structure.
As we move forward in these lessons, we will return to the topics of this
lesson time and again. We have seen that the story of Abraham’s life has a five-
step symmetry. And we have also seen that there are four main themes in
Abraham’s life: God’s benevolence to Abraham, Abraham’s loyalty, the blessings
of God to Abraham, and the blessings of God through Abraham. These themes
not only give us insights into what the story of Abraham’s life meant long ago
when it was first written for Israel, but they also make it possible for us to apply
this portion of Scripture to our lives today.

Dr. Richard L. Pratt, Jr. (Host) is Co-Founder and President of Third Millennium
Ministries. He served as Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary
for more than 20 years and was chair of the Old Testament department. An ordained
minister, Dr. Pratt travels extensively to evangelize and teach. He studied at Westminster
Theological Seminary, received his [Link]. from Union Theological Seminary, and
earned his Th.D. in Old Testament Studies from Harvard University. Dr. Pratt is the
general editor of the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible and a translator for the
New Living Translation. He has also authored numerous articles and books, including
Pray with Your Eyes Open, Every Thought Captive, Designed for Dignity, He Gave Us
Stories, Commentary on 1 & 2 Chronicles and Commentary on 1 & 2 Corinthians.

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 Father Abraham

LESSON THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM:

TWO
ORIGINAL MEANING

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© 2012 by Third Millennium Ministries
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any
means for profit, except in brief quotations for the purposes of review, comment, or
scholarship, without written permission from the publisher, Third Millennium Ministries,
Inc., 316 Live Oaks Blvd., Casselberry, Florida 32707.

Unless otherwise indicated all Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW
INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 International Bible
Society. Used by Permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

ABOUT THIRD MILLENNIUM MINISTRIES

Founded in 1997, Third Millennium Ministries is a nonprofit Christian
organization dedicated to providing Biblical Education. For the World. For Free.
In response to the growing global need for sound, biblically-based Christian
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For more information about our ministry and to learn how you can get involved,
please visit [Link]

ii.
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Contents
I. Introduction .....................................................................................................1
II. Connections .....................................................................................................2
A. Definition 2
B. Types 3
1. Backgrounds 4
2. Models 4
3. Foreshadows 6
C. Summation 7
III. Implications .....................................................................................................8
A. Basic Impact 8
B. Major Themes 9
1. Divine Grace 9
2. Abraham’s Loyalty 10
3. Blessings to Abraham 10
4. Blessings through Abraham 11
C. Five Steps 12
1. Background and Early Experiences 12
2. Early Contacts with Others 13
3. Covenant with God 14
4. Later Contacts with Others 15
5. Progeny and Death 16
IV. Conclusion .......................................................................................................17

iii.
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 Father Abraham
Lesson Two
The Life of Abraham: Original Meaning

INTRODUCTION
Sincere followers of Christ love the Scriptures. We find that they speak to our
lives in many different and very personal ways. This is a precious truth about Scripture
that Christians should never forget. But many times this wonderfully personal dimension
of Scripture can actually cause us to lose sight of something that we must always
remember. The Bible was not written directly to you or me. In the first place, Scripture
was written to other people who lived thousands of years ago. So as we try to understand
how the Scriptures apply to our lives today, we must always be careful to base our
modern applications on the original meaning of Scripture.
This is a series of lessons that we have entitled Father Abraham. And in these
lessons we are exploring the account of Abraham’s life that appears in Genesis 11:10–
25:18.
This is the second of three introductory lessons, and we have entitled this lesson
“The Life of Abraham: Original Meaning.” In this lesson we will see how important it is
to read the stories of Abraham’s life in light of when they were written and to whom they
were written. We will explore the original impact these stories were intended to have on
the nation of Israel as they followed Moses toward the Promised Land.
We will explore the original meaning of Genesis 11:10–25:18 by looking at two
main issues. First, we will point out how Moses drew connections between the history of
Abraham’s life and the experiences of his original audience. And second, we will
summarize some of the implications these connections had for the original audience.
Before we look at the original meaning of the life of Abraham, we should take a
moment to review what we saw in the previous lesson. Up to this point, we have focused
on two critical issues. First, we suggested that Genesis 12:1-3 reveals four major themes
in the story of Abraham. God’s kindness to Abraham (the many ways God showed mercy
to the patriarch), Abraham’s responsibility to be loyal to God (the many ways God
expected Abraham to obey him), God’s blessings to Abraham (the promises of a great
nation, many children, a land, and a great name) and God’s blessings through Abraham to
others (the promise that Abraham would be a blessing to all the families of the earth).
Beyond this, we also saw that these major themes shaped the way Abraham’s
story was told in Genesis. We learned that the story of Abraham divides into five
symmetrical steps. First, we begin with Abraham’s background and early experiences in
11:10–12:9. Second, several episodes concentrate on Abraham’s earlier interactions with
representatives of other peoples in 12:10–14:24. The third and central segment of
Abraham’s life focuses on the covenant that God made with Abraham in 15:1–17:27. The
fourth section of Abraham’s life turns to Abraham’s later interactions with
representatives of other peoples in 18:1–21:34. And the fifth segment deals with
Abraham’s progeny and death in 22:1–25:18.

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

These five steps present the patriarch’s life in a symmetrical pattern. The third
section of 15:1–17:27, which deals with God’s covenant with Abraham, serves as the
centerpiece of Abraham’s life. The second and fourth sections correspond to each other
as they both focus on Abraham’s interactions with other peoples. The first and last
sections correspond to each other further by providing bookends to Abraham’s life,
tracing his family line from the past and into the future.
In many respects, this lesson will build on these insights into the structure and
content of Abraham’s life. With this review in mind, we are ready to move into the main
concerns of this lesson, the original meaning of the life of Abraham in the book of
Genesis. Let’s begin by exploring the connections that exist between the stories about
Abraham and the experiences of Israel who first received these stories.

CONNECTIONS
In this series of lessons we are building our interpretation of the life of Abraham
on the assumption that these stories were originally written in the days of Moses, and that
they are substantially the same now as they were then. Most critical scholars believe that
these stories were not written in the days of Moses, but other portions of the Old
Testament as well as Jesus himself insisted that Moses did write Genesis, and because of
this modern Christians should have affirmed the Mosaic authorship of this book. But in
this series we are also concerned with going a step further. We want to grasp not just the
fact that Moses wrote these stories; we want to know why he wrote them. What was his
perspective on the life of Abraham? What was his purpose in writing? One of the best
ways to begin to explore the original meaning of Abraham’s life is to look for the ways
Moses connected his stories about Abraham with the experiences of his original
audience, the Israelites who followed him away from Egypt and toward the Promised
Land.
To explore how Moses connected his stories about Abraham to his original
audience, we will touch on three matters: first, we will explore what we mean when we
speak of these connections. Second, we will look at some types of connections that
appear within the stories of Abraham’s life; and third, we will summarize the connections
in these stories by looking at each of the five major steps in the structure of Abraham’s
life story. Let’s begin with what we mean when we speak of connections.

DEFINITION
In many ways, when Moses composed his history of Abraham’s life, he found
himself in a situation that all writers of biblical narratives found themselves. He stood
between two worlds. On the one hand, Moses had received accounts of what we will call
“that world”: the world of Abraham. He knew about what had happened in Abraham’s
life some 500 to 600 years earlier both from tradition and from extraordinary revelation

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

from God. In this sense, Moses dealt in the first place with the ancient world of
Abraham’s life.
But on the other hand, Moses also dealt with the world in which he lived, what we
might call “their world”: the world of Moses and the Israelites who followed him. As the
leader of God’s people at that time, Moses wrote his stories about the ancient world of
Abraham’s life for the sake of meeting the needs of their world.
As Moses mediated between “that world” of Abraham’s life and “their world”
(his contemporary world), he drew connections between the patriarch’s life and the lives
of his readers so that they could see the relevance of the stories that he wrote. That is to
say, Moses selected and shaped his stories in ways that made it possible for the Israelites
following him to see that Abraham’s life had connections to their lives. In large part,
Moses did this by writing so that his audience could draw comparisons and contrasts
between Abraham and their own contemporary experiences. Sometimes these
comparisons and contrasts were only slight and other times they were more extensive, but
in every episode Moses somehow drew attention to these kinds of connections between
Abraham’s life and the lives of his original audience.
Now that we have seen the basic idea of connections and original meaning, let’s
turn to our second concern, the types of connections that Moses established between
Abraham’s life and the experiences of his original Israelite audience.

TYPES
For any story to have relevance for its readers, it must portray a world that its
readers can understand. If the world of a story is completely different from the real world,
if readers cannot relate to the story’s characters and themes, then the story will not
communicate. Or to put it in terms of this lesson, if “that world” of Abraham was
completely different from “their world” of Moses and the Israelites, the stories about
Abraham would not have been meaningful or relevant to the Israelites. So, Moses worked
very hard to draw connections between Abraham’s world and the world of the Israelites
who were moving toward the Promised Land.
The question before us in this lesson is how Moses made these connections clear.
How did he shape his stories about Abraham so that they connected to his readers’
world? As we move forward in this series, we will see that Moses connected his accounts
to the experiences of the Israelites in three main ways. First, he wrote his stories so that
they told the Israelites about the historical backgrounds of things they experienced. And
second, he wrote so that his narratives provided the Israelites with models or examples to
follow or to avoid. And third, he wrote to show that many of the patriarch’s experiences
foreshadowed or adumbrated the Israelite’s experiences. Because we will refer to these
kinds of connections many times in future lessons, we should introduce all three of these
techniques that Moses used to show the relevance of Abraham’s life for his original
audience. Let’s look first at how Abraham’s life provided backgrounds for Israel’s
experience in Moses’ day.

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

Backgrounds
In many ways, this is the easiest of all connections to identify. It is quite common
for people in all walks of life to tell stories to each other for the main purpose of
explaining the historical backgrounds of things they experience. Parents often do this
with children, teachers illustrate their teachings in this way, pastors, and even political
leaders do the same. We often connect stories to our audiences by drawing attention to
the way they provide historical backgrounds.
Now with respect to the life of Abraham, we can describe this connection in this
way: we find the connection of historical backgrounds when Moses pointed to ways in
which Israel’s experiences were historically rooted in the events of Abraham’s life. Take
for instance, the way Moses explained the historical background of viewing the land of
Canaan as Israel’s homeland. You will recall that a number of times during the exodus
the Israelites wondered why they had to go all the way to the land of Canaan. Why would
Moses not allow them to stop short of entering that land?
On a number of occasions, Moses addressed this very issue by providing certain
details about the historical background of Abraham’s life. In a word, he showed that God
had specifically given Abraham a homeland in Canaan so that the Israelites could see
why he insisted that they too had a homeland in Canaan. For instance, we read these
words that God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 15:18:

To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the
great river, the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18).

This passage established the origin or historical background of Moses’ insistence that
Israel possess Canaan. God had given that land to Israel’s great father and he had given it
to them as his descendants, so settling in some other land would not do.
As we explore more details of Abraham’s life we will see that Moses frequently
pointed to these kinds of historical backgrounds. A second main way that Moses
connected the life of Abraham to Israel in his day was by providing them with models.
Let’s see how modeling worked in these stories.

Models
Moses did not want his original readers to receive the stories of Abraham as mere
background information; he described many situations in the patriarch’s life so that they
could see a significant number of similarities between the circumstances of Abraham’s
life and their own circumstances. These similarities raised moral issues for Moses’
audience. Moses pointed out that these similarities made it possible for Israel to see
examples to follow and to reject.
Telling stories for the sake of providing models or examples is a common way to
connect stories to our listeners. It happens all the time. When we warn someone at work
not to do this or that, we often add a story about what happened the last time someone
made this mistake. If we are teaching children why they should work hard in school, we

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

often reinforce instruction with stories that give examples of people who have a great
success because they have worked hard in school.
Moses often did the same thing to connect his stories about Abraham to his
original Israelite audience. He presented Abraham’s story so that his characters could
serve as models for Israel to follow or reject. Consider for instance, how Moses exhorted
the Israelites to boldness against the threat of the Canaanites who occupied the Land of
Canaan. We know from the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy that the Israelites
following Moses refused to enter Canaan because powerful Canaanites occupied the land.
Their hearts were full of dread because the Canaanites seemed to be an invincible foe. In
Deuteronomy 1:26-28 we read these words of Moses to the tribes of Israel:

But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of
the Lord your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, “The Lord
hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of
the Amorites to destroy us. Where can we go? Our brothers have
made us lose heart. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than
we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky’” (Deuteronomy
1:26-28).

One of the ways Moses addressed this fear of the Canaanites was to provide his readers
with the example of Abraham facing Canaanites in his day. For instance, we find the first
reference to Canaanites in Abraham’s life in Genesis 12:6:

Abram traveled through the land … At that time the Canaanites were
in the land (Genesis 12:6).

And in a similar way, in Genesis 13:7 we read these words:

The Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land at that
time (Genesis 13:7).

Why did Moses mention the Canaanites’ presence in the land of promise twice in two
adjacent episodes? One of his purposes was to show Israel that Abraham’s situation was
very similar to theirs. Canaanites were in the Promised Land in Abraham’s day, just as
they were in the days of Moses in Israel. Yet, Abraham believed the promises of God and
went forward boldly into the land occupied by Canaanites. In this way Moses encouraged
his readers to imitate Abraham’s boldness by trusting the promises of God and by going
into the land even though Canaanites still occupied it. In this way Abraham became their
example to follow.
As we make our way through the life of Abraham, we will find many passages
that offer positive and negative examples. But in the third place, there were times when
Moses connected the life of Abraham to the lives of his readers by showing how events in
the patriarch’s life foreshadowed or adumbrated events that took place in his day.

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

Foreshadows
In many respects, the connection of historical backgrounds requires very little
similarity between the story and its audience to accomplish its purpose; examples or
models require more similarity between the story and its audience for the example to be
relevant. But foreshadowing occurs only when there are many similarities, so much so
that “that world” of Abraham looks almost exactly like “their world” of Israel. Now this
kind of extensive connection occurs infrequently in the stories of Abraham’s life, but
from time to time, Moses described the days of Abraham in ways that closely resembled
events in his own day.
Many of us have heard the adage, “History often repeats itself.” Of course, we all
know that no two sets of historical events are ever exactly alike. But sometimes events
are so similar that the second seems to be a repetition of the first. When biblical writers
saw events in the past seemed to be repeated in the lives of their audiences, they often
made this connection clear. And this literal technique is known as foreshadowing.
One example of foreshadowing appears in the well-known episode that describes
Abraham’s covenant with God in Genesis 15:1-21. God gave Abraham assurance that his
descendants would one day possess the land of Canaan by calling him to prepare for a
covenant ritual. Abraham prepared by cutting some animals in half and by placing the
pieces of their torn flesh on either side of a path. After the patriarch had fallen asleep, he
had a vision of something that closely resembled an experience the original audience had
in their day. In Genesis 15:17 we read these words:

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with
a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces (Genesis
15:17).

In the larger context of this passage we learn that this smoking pot and blazing torch
represented God himself passing among the torn flesh of animals as an assurance that he
would surely give Abraham’s descendants the land of promise.
Now get the picture. In Genesis 15:17 God passed before Abraham as smoking
fire to assure him that God would give his descendants the land of promise. Now, to us as
modern readers it may seem strange for God to assure Abraham by appearing as smoke
and fire. But when we remember that Moses wrote about Abraham’s life for the Israelites
following him toward the Promised Land, it is not surprising at all that he would include
this detail. Throughout the Israelites’ travels, God had appeared before Israel in a way
that resembled the smoking pot and flaming torch. In the glory cloud that led them
toward the Promised Land, God appeared to them too as smoke and fire.
So, in this way God’s appearance to Abraham foreshadowed the way he appeared
to the Israelites in Moses’ day. And as Abraham gained assurance of possessing the land
because God went before him in this manner, the Israelites hearing this story should have
gained assurance of possessing the land in their day as well.
Another, even more extensive foreshadowing occurs in the episode of Abraham’s
deliverance from Egypt found in Genesis 12:10-20. This passage was written to guide
Israel in their outlooks on Egypt. In this case, Moses constructed the entire episode so
that it closely paralleled the experience of Israelites under his leadership. In Genesis
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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

12:10-20 Abraham began a sojourn in Egypt because of a famine in the Land of Canaan,
he was delayed in Egypt when Pharaoh took Sarah into his harem, but God delivered
Abraham by sending diseases on Pharaoh’s house. Pharaoh then sent Abraham away
from Egypt and Abraham left Egypt with great wealth.
This story about Abraham was clearly designed to foreshadow the experience of
the nation of Israel generations later. Just like Abraham, they sojourned to Egypt because
of a famine in the Land of Canaan, they were held there by Pharaoh they were delivered
by disease sent from God to the house of Pharaoh, Pharaoh ordered Israel’s release, and
Israel left Egypt having plundered the riches of the Egyptians. Moses purposefully
shaped this account so that it foreshadowed the experiences of his audience. This kind of
extensive foreshadowing is rare in the stories of Abraham, but such connections appear
here and there in Abraham’s stories.
As we read through the life of Abraham we will see all three connections in
different ways and at different times. Moses connected “that world” of Abraham’s life to
“their world,” the world of his original audience, by giving them the historical
backgrounds of their experiences, by providing them with models to follow and reject,
and by showing how Abraham’s life foreshadowed many of their experiences.
Now that we have seen the types of connections that Moses established between
Abraham and his Israelite audience, it will be helpful to summarize how each major step
of Abraham’s life connected to the lives of the original audience.

SUMMATION
You will recall that Abraham’s life divides into five symmetrical steps. In each of
these sections Moses found ways to connect the stories about Abraham to the
circumstances of his original audience.
First, Moses told about Abraham’s background and early experiences in ways that
connected to the background and early experiences of the people who had followed him
out of Egypt. Both Abraham and Israel descended from the same family. And both
Abraham and Israel had been called by God to inhabit the land of Canaan. So, Moses
gave historical backgrounds, set up Abraham as a model, and even showed ways that
Abraham’s life foreshadowed the experiences of the original audience.
Second, Moses also described Abraham’s early interactions with others in ways
that connected to his audience. He spoke of how Abraham interacted with Egyptians
because Israel interacted with Egyptians in their day. He spoke about Abraham and Lot
because Israel interacted with descendants of Lot, the Moabites and the Ammonites. He
wrote about kings from the east and the Canaanite king of Sodom because Israel had
similar experiences with foreign kings and Canaanite cities.
Third, Moses wrote about God’s covenant with Abraham because Israel had
entered into covenant with God as well. Abraham’s covenant with God foreshadowed the
covenant God made with Israel in many different ways.
Fourth, Moses wrote about Abraham’s later interactions with other peoples. He
wrote about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot, and Abimelech the Philistine
because Israel faced similar people in their day: the Canaanite cities, the Moabites and
the Ammonites, and the Philistines.
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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

And fifth, Moses wrote about Abraham’s progeny and death in a way that
connected with his Israelite readers. He focused on Isaac as Abraham’s special son and
heir because his Israelite audience was descended from Isaac. He drew attention to the
burial ground for Sarah because that ground was in the land God promised to Israel. He
drew attention to other sons of Abraham who were not Abraham’s heirs, especially
Ishmael, because Israel had to deal with the Ishmaelites in their day.
So we see that as Moses wrote about Abraham he drew many different
connections between his stories and the experiences of his Israelite audience. And he did
this in order to provide significant guidance for the Israelites as they followed him toward
the Promised Land.
Now that we have seen the main ways Moses connected Abraham’s life to his
original Israelite audience, we need to ask another important question about the original
meaning. What were the implications of these connections for the original audience?
What were they to learn from the stories of Abraham’s life?

IMPLICATIONS
There should be little doubt that when people take time to write a history as
complex as Abraham’s life in Genesis, they have all kinds of motivations and goals. They
want their stories to have multiple impacts on their audiences. In fact, when Moses wrote
the life of Abraham, his intentions were so manifold that it is impossible to decipher them
completely, much less to state them all in a few sentences. At the same time, it is possible
to summarize the chief implications Moses hoped his original audience would draw from
his stories about Abraham.
We will explore the original implications of the life of Abraham in three steps.
First, we will describe the basic impact that these stories were designed to have on the
original audience. Second, we will see how the impact of these stories unfolds in the four
major themes of Abraham’s life. And third, we will summarize the original implications
of each of the five steps in Moses’ stories about Abraham. Let’s look first at the basic
impact these stories were designed to have.

BASIC IMPACT
In very general terms, it helps to summarize the purpose of Abraham’s story in
this way: Moses wrote about Abraham to teach Israel why and how they were to leave
Egypt behind and to continue toward the conquest of the Promised Land. In other words,
by seeing the historical backgrounds of their lives in Abraham, by finding models or
examples to follow and reject in the stories of Abraham, and by discerning how his life
foreshadowed their lives, the Israelites following Moses could see the ways they were to
pursue God’s purpose for them.
Although we can be confident on the basis of the testimony of Scripture and even
Jesus himself that the book of Genesis comes from the days of Moses, we should note
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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

that we cannot be sure precisely when Moses completed these stories as we have them
now. Whatever the case, we may safely say that Moses’ main concern when writing the
history of Abraham would have been very similar for either generation. He wrote about
Abraham to turn their hearts away from Egypt and toward possessing the Promised Land.
This general implication for the original audience can hardly be overemphasized.
Moses wrote to encourage the nation of Israel following him never to return back to
Egypt and to succeed in the conquest of Canaan and this broad implication guides us in
our modern application of Abraham’s life. As Christians we are on a journey, a journey
that actually completes the journey begun by Israel in the days of Moses. We are moving
toward the new heavens and new earth. So, for us to apply Abraham’s stories properly to
our lives, we must pay attention to the ways they instructed the original audience to keep
moving toward Canaan.
To unpack this overarching focus a bit, we should look into Moses’ purpose in
more detail by returning to the four major themes we have already identified in this
portion of Genesis.

MAJOR THEMES
You will recall that earlier in this lesson we suggested that Genesis 12:1-3
presents at least four themes that give coherence to this part of the patriarchal history.
These four themes express the central impact Moses designed his stories to have. First, he
focused on divine grace to Abraham; second, he concentrated on Abraham’s loyalty;
third, he was concerned with blessings to Abraham; and fourth, he focused on blessing
through Abraham. It helps to think of Moses’ original purpose for writing about Abraham
in terms of these four motifs.

Divine Grace
In the first place, Moses wrote about the ways God had shown mercy to Abraham.
In broad terms, we have already seen that God showed much grace to Abraham, both in
the early years of his relationship with God and on a daily basis throughout his entire life.
The motif of divine grace was designed to remind the Israelites in Moses’ day that God
had shown great mercy to them as well. God had shown them early grace when he
brought them from Egypt to Sinai. And day after day, he continued to show them mercy,
even as he prepared them for the future conquest of Canaan.
The well-known words God spoke at Sinai in Exodus 19:4 speak of God’s grace in
this way:

You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you
on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself (Exodus 19:4).

Sadly, the Israelites who Moses led had forgotten how much mercy they had received
from God. Early on they complained that God and Moses had cheated them by taking

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

them away from the comforts of Egypt. They complained about food and water in the
wilderness. They thought God had asked too much of them when he called them to enter
the conquest for the Promised Land. So, Moses frequently stressed the ways God showed
mercy to Abraham to remind his original audience of the ways God had blessed them, the
mercies God had shown to them over and over.

Abraham’s Loyalty
In the second place, we have seen that Moses also emphasized Abraham’s loyalty
by drawing attention to the many ways God held Abraham responsible to obey his
commands. Moses repeatedly emphasized that God expected the patriarch to be faithful
to his commands because this focus was also relevant for the Israelites who followed
him. This focus on the requirement of loyalty also spoke to Israel in Moses day. Listen to
the way God continued to address Israel at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:4-5:

You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you
on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully
and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my
treasured possession (Exodus 19:4-5).

Notice here that the blessings of becoming a treasured possession were dependent on
Israel’s faithfulness. Although God had shown much mercy to the nation, the status of
each person in each generation depended on how they responded to the commands of
God.
Now, as we have seen, the main responsibility given to Abraham was that he go
to the land of Canaan. Moses stressed this responsibility because he wanted Israel
following him to stay the course for the land of Canaan as well. And of course, as Moses
wrote about Abraham’s other responsibilities, he did so to teach the Israelites of his day
about their many other responsibilities. The many requirements of loyalty from Abraham
spoke plainly to the fact that the original audience was to be loyal and faithful to the
commands of God as well.

Blessings to Abraham

In the third place, we have also seen the importance of the theme of God’s
promised blessings to Abraham. In his stories about Abraham, Moses focused on the
promised blessings of a great nation, prosperity and a great name for Abraham and his
descendants. And on a number of occasions we even see that Abraham experienced some
foretastes of these blessings in his own lifetime. And on many other occasions the stories
of Abraham focused on the future fulfillments of these blessings in generations to come.
Moses focused on Abraham’s blessings these ways because these promises were also for
Abraham’s descendants, the people of Israel whom Moses led. The people of Israel were
promised great blessings too. They were to become a great nation, to experience

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

unprecedented prosperity and to receive a great name when they entered into the
Promised Land.
In fact, much like Abraham, Israel had also experienced many foretastes of these
blessings by the time the book of Genesis was written. They had already begun to see
fulfillments of some of these promises in their own lives. Yet, there were still many
future fulfillments of these blessings to come once they entered the land of promise. God
spoke of these future blessings for Israel at Sinai in this way in Exodus 19:6:

You will become for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation

(Exodus 19:6).

Moses wrote of the blessings God promised Abraham to raise the hopes of Israel in his
day. As they read of God’s promises to the patriarch, they could clearly see how God had
great blessings in store for them as well.

Blessings through Abraham

In the fourth place, we have also seen that the stories of Abraham revealed that
God’s blessings would also come through the patriarch to the entire world. As you will
recall, the blessings through Abraham would not come in a simple fashion. In Genesis
12:3 we learn that God would give Abraham success through a process of blessing
Abraham’s friends and cursing his enemies. In a variety of episodes, Moses pointed out
how God gave Abraham foretastes of this process in his own lifetime as he interacted
with other peoples representing different nations. And on a number of occasions in his
stories of Abraham’s life, Moses pointed out that many fulfillments would come in the
future.
Moses stressed this motif because it was so relevant to the people of Israel who
followed him in his day. God assured them of success in being a blessing to others
because he would bless their friends and curse their enemies. They too had seen
foretastes of these promises as they interacted with various groups of people in their own
day. They had already seen God bless those who were their friends and curse their
enemies on a number of occasions. And beyond this, Moses also focused on these matters
to turn the eyes of the Israelites toward future fulfillments as they entered the Promised
Land and spread the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth. As we have just seen, in
Exodus 19:6 God said this to Israel:

You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus

19:6).

This vision of the nation as a kingdom of priests did not simply point out that the nation
itself would be blessed with the privilege of being a holy people serving God, but also
pointed out that the children of Israel would serve God’s purposes throughout the world.

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

As Moses inspired Israel to move toward the Promised Land, his stories about Abraham
were designed to instill within them the vision of how God was going to use Israel to
spread his kingdom and thus his blessings to the entire world.
Now that we have seen the implications of the four major themes of Abraham’s
life for the original audience, let’s briefly summarize the impact of Abraham’s stories on
the original audience by looking at each major step in the structure of the patriarch’s life
as it is recorded in Genesis.

FIVE STEPS
You will recall that the stories about Abraham’s life divide into five main steps.
First, Abraham’s background and early experiences in 11:10–12:9; second, Abraham’s
earlier interactions with representatives of other peoples in 12:10–14:24; third, the
covenant that God made with Abraham in 15:1–17:27; fourth, Abraham’s later
interactions with representatives of other peoples in 18:1–21:34; and fifth, Abraham’s
progeny and death in 22:1–25:18.
Each of these major steps divides into a number of smaller segments or episodes.
We will briefly summarize the content and some of the main implications that these
episodes had for the original audience for whom Moses wrote.

Background and Early Experiences

The first step of Abraham’s life, his background and early experiences, reported
several features of Abraham’s family and the time when God first called Abraham into
his service. In general terms, Moses designed this first step to show his original Israelite
audience how they could learn about their own family background and their call from
God from these events in Abraham’s life.
This first step divides into three episodes or segments. The life of Abraham begins
with a genealogy that presents Abraham’s divinely-favored lineage in 11:10-26. These
verses establish that Abraham was a climactic character in the family of Shem, a family
that held a favored status before God as God’s special chosen people. This genealogy in
turn should have reminded Moses’ original Israelite audience that as the family line of
Abraham, they shared this same favored status. They were God’s special chosen people.
The second episode of Abraham’s background and early experiences is another
genealogy in 11:27-32. In a nutshell, this passage depicts Terah as an idolater who
attempted to go to the land of Canaan but failed. Moses’ original audience easily would
have seen the similarity between Abraham’s circumstances and their own. Their parents
had been involved in idolatry and had failed to reach the land of Canaan as well. So, just
as Abraham had to avoid repeating his father’s failures, the Israelites who followed
Moses also had to avoid repeating the failures of their fathers and mothers, the idolaters
of the first generation of the exodus who failed to reach Canaan.
Abraham’s background and early experiences then move to the story of
Abraham’s migration to Canaan in 12:1-9. God called Abraham to the land of Canaan,

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

and Abraham obeyed the call of God despite many difficulties. In much the same way,
God called Moses’ original Israelite audience to the land of Canaan, and they were also to
obey despite many difficulties. So the story of Abraham’s migration to Canaan had the
original implication that the Israelites in Moses’ day were to follow the footsteps of
Abraham and migrate as he did to the land of Canaan.
With these three segments, Moses introduced Abraham’s life and offered
significant guidance for his original audience as they faced the challenges of their own
service to God.

Early Contacts with Others

The second major step in the Genesis account of Abraham’s life concentrates on
the patriarch’s earlier interactions with other peoples. These chapters depict the patriarch
interacting with other groups of people in a variety of ways to guide the original Israelite
readers as they interacted with others.
In the first episode, Moses described Abraham’s deliverance from Egypt in
Genesis 12:10-20. You will recall that the patriarch sojourned in Egypt because of a
famine, but God delivered him from Egyptian bondage by sending diseases on Pharaoh’s
house. Because of God’s great deliverance Abraham left Egypt with many riches and
never returned. Abraham learned very clearly that Egypt was not his home.
Moses’ original Israelite readers could see that their own experiences reflected
many aspects of Abraham’s story. They had gone to Egypt because of a famine, they had
also been delivered when God sent diseases on the Egyptians, and they had left Egypt
with many riches from the Egyptians. Unfortunately, as the Israelites faced difficulties in
their travels, many of them began to idealize life in Egypt and wanted to return. This
episode should have made it clear to the original audience that Egypt was not their home.
They were to remember how God had graciously delivered them, and to leave Egypt and
the Egyptians far behind.
The second segment of Abraham’s earlier interactions with others is the story of
his conflict with Lot in 13:1-18. This is the well-known story of struggle between
Abraham’s men and Lot’s men, when the two groups quarreled over natural resources for
their sheep. In this struggle, Abraham treated Lot with kindness, allowing Lot to live in
peace in the lands he chose. The original readers of Genesis would have had little trouble
understanding what this story meant for them. According to Deuteronomy 2, as they
traveled towards the Promised Land Moses commanded the Israelites to treat Lot’s
descendants with kindness, to let them live at peace in their ancestral land. In effect,
Abraham’s kind treatment of Lot showed the Israelites how to treat the Moabites in their
day.
The third episode of Abraham’s earlier interactions with others is the story of
Abraham’s rescue of Lot in 14:1-24. This complex story described how Abraham
defeated powerful, tyrannical kings who had come from afar, and how he showed further
kindness to Lot by rescuing him from these tyrannical kings. This story spoke rather
plainly to the Israelites following Moses. As Israel passed through the lands of the
Moabites and Ammonites, who descended from Lot, the army of Israel defeated the
tyrannical kings Sihon of the Amorites, and Og of Bashan, both of whom had oppressed
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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

the Moabites and Ammonites. By rescuing the Moabites and the Ammonites in this way,
Israel followed the model that Abraham had set for them.
And so it is that in each episode of this step of Abraham’s life, Abraham was
presented as a model for Israel to follow in their own times.

Covenant with God

Now we come to the third major step of Abraham’s life, the covenant that God
made with Abraham in 15:1–17:27. In general terms, this step focuses on God’s covenant
with the patriarch in ways that reveal the character of Israel’s covenant relationship with
God. These chapters divide into three main segments.
The first episode focuses especially on God’s covenant promises to Abraham in
15:1-21. This chapter is the well-known account of the time when God entered into a
covenant with Abraham. God promised to give Abraham progeny and land. Specifically,
God promised that Abraham would have a multitude of descendants, and that after a time
of mistreatment in a foreign land, Abraham’s descendants would be brought back to the
land of promise. This passage was designed to remind the Israelites that God had made a
similar covenant with Israel through Moses. And more than this, it showed them that they
themselves were experiencing the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham. The
Israelites were Abraham’s promised progeny, and they were returning to the very land
that God had promised to their patriarch. To doubt these facts was to doubt the gracious
covenant promises God had made to Abraham and reaffirmed with Moses.
The second episode that focuses on God’s covenant with Abraham is the
patriarch’s failure with Hagar in 16:1-16. This sad story recalls how Abraham and Sarah
turned from the covenant promises of God by seeking a child through Sarah’s Egyptian
handmaiden, Hagar. Abraham and Sarah failed to trust God’s covenant promises, but
God rejected their alternative plan by not accepting the child Ishmael as Abraham’s true
seed. Moses’ original audience repeatedly turned from God’s promises in covenant and
desired the comforts of Egypt. And this story from Abraham’s life taught them that just
as Abraham’s plan had been rejected, their alternatives to God’s plan would also be
rejected.
The third episode focusing on God’s covenant with Abraham is the account of
Abraham’s covenant requirement in 17:1-27. In this passage, God confronted the
patriarch over his failure to follow God’s plan. The Lord also reasserted the need for
covenant loyalty by instituting circumcision as a covenant sign that was to be applied to
Abraham and his sons. By this sign, God reminded Abraham that his covenant
relationship entailed the responsibility of loyalty, and that loyalty would lead to great
blessings. Moses recounted this side of Abraham’s covenant to confront the Israelites in
his day over their failures to remain faithful and to reassert the Israelites’ need for
covenant loyalty. Only as the Israelites were faithful to their covenant God could they
rightly hope for his great blessings.
So, the centerpiece of Abraham’s life, his covenant with God, drew attention to
the grace of God’s marvelous promises to Israel. But it also forcefully reminded his
audience that they were obligated to display loyal service to their covenant God.

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

Later Contacts with Others

Now we come to the fourth step of Abraham’s life: his later interactions with
others in 18:1–21:34. In these chapters Abraham encountered various people who were
associated with people living in Moses’ day. Abraham interacted with the Canaanite
inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot, Abimelech, and Ishmael. In general terms,
Abraham’s interactions with these people taught Israel how they would interact with the
Canaanites, the Moabites and Ammonites, and the Philistines and Ishmaelites of their
day.
The first story of this portion of the patriarch’s life is the account of Sodom and
Gomorrah in 18:1–19:38. This well-known narrative tells of the threat of divine judgment
against the evil Canaanite cities. It tells about Abraham’s concern for the righteous in the
cities, and the destruction of these cities as well as Lot’s rescue. These events spoke
directly to the situation facing Moses’ original audience. They helped them understand
what was happening with people living in their day: God’s threat against the Canaanites,
the concern they were to have for the righteous among the Canaanites (like Rahab whom
they would encounter in Jericho), the destruction that was sure to come against the
Canaanite cities, and their relationship with Lot’s descendants, the Moabites and
Ammonites.
The second portion of Abraham’s later interactions with others appears in 20:1-
18. In this story Abraham once again interceded for an inhabitant of the land, namely for
Abimelech the Philistine. You will recall that Abimelech threatened Abraham’s future by
taking Sarah from Abraham, not knowing she was his wife. Then, God brought judgment
against Abimelech, and Abimelech proved to be righteous by repenting of his actions. As
a result of this repentance, Abraham interceded on Abimelech’s behalf, and Abraham and
Abimelech enjoyed lasting peace and friendship with each other.
This story spoke to the Israelites in Moses’ day about the attitudes they were to
have toward the Philistines in their day. In a variety of ways, the Philistines threatened
Israel. But when the threat of God’s judgment brought repentance among the Philistines,
the Israelites were to intercede on their behalf, and to enjoy lasting peace with them.
The third narrative of this section, found in 21:1-21, focuses on the difficult
relationship between Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac and Ishmael were both sons of Abraham.
But when tensions rose between them, God instructed Abraham to separate Ishmael from
the family. God still blessed Ishmael, but made it very clear that Abraham’s only rightful
heir was Isaac. As Moses informed his original Israelite audience of these events, he
helped them understand the nature of their relationship with the Ishmaelites of their day.
When tensions rose between Israel and the Ishmaelites, the Israelites were to remember
that God had ordained a separation between them. Although God blessed the Ishmaelites
in many ways, the Israelites were the true heirs of Abraham.
The fourth episode of Abraham’s later interactions with others is the story of
Abraham’s Treaty with Abimelech in 21:22-34. This story reports how the Philistine
Abimelech acknowledged God’s favor toward Abraham, and how Abraham agreed to
live in peace with Abimelech and his descendants. It goes on to tell how controversy
arose over water rights for Abraham’s sheep, and how Abimelech and Abraham entered a
formal treaty at Beersheba, pledging mutual respect and honor.

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

Abimelech and his commander reminded Moses and the Israelites of the potent
threat the Philistines were in their day. Here, Moses taught his followers that if the
Philistines would acknowledge God’s blessing on Israel, then Israel should follow
Abraham’s example and live in peace with them. The well called Beersheba still
remained in Moses’ day, reminding Israel of the treaty made there, and of how they were
to pursue peace and mutual honor with the Philistines.
So, we see that the stories of Abraham’s later interactions involved many
characters who corresponded to people who Moses and Israel encountered. By looking at
Abraham’s actions the Israelites could learn many lessons for their day.

Progeny and Death

Now we come to the final step of Moses’ record of Abraham’s life, his progeny
and death in Genesis 22:1–25:18. These episodes focus on Abraham’s legacy, which
extended his covenant relationship with God to future generations. In general terms, the
Israelites who first received these stories from Moses should have learned much about
their own status as Abraham’s heirs, and about the hopes they were to have for their own
progeny.
The first episode in this portion of Abraham’s life is the well-known story of
Abraham’s test in 22:1-24. This test was designed to determine if Abraham loved God
more than he loved his son Isaac. God initiated a difficult test, calling Abraham to
sacrifice his son. Abraham complied, and God assured Abraham that the result of his
compliance would be a very bright future for Isaac.
Although there were countless implications of this story for the Israelites
following Moses, the most prominent feature of this passage was that it reminded them
that God was testing the nation of Israel to see the depth of their loyalty to him. God
initiated many tests for the nation of Israel in Moses’ day. And Abraham’s compliance to
his test reminded them of their own need to comply with these tests, no matter how
difficult they were. And the affirmation of Isaac’s grand future as Abraham’s progeny
reminded the Israelites of the grand future they themselves would have if they passed
these tests.
The second episode of the last step of Abraham’s life is the story of the
patriarch’s purchase of burial property in 23:1-20. This story describes how Abraham
acquired a family burial site in Hebron when his wife Sarah died. The narrative
emphasizes that the patriarch did not accept this property as a gift, but rather that he
purchased it. This deed of property established his family’s legal right to see the land of
Canaan as their homeland.
The Israelites following Moses understood the importance and implications of this
purchased burial site for their own lives. It was their ancestral burial site. Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob were all buried there. They understood that it was their legal possession in the
land, even prior to the conquest. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob spent much of their lives in
and around Hebron. The Israelites were so committed to Hebron as their ancestral
homeland that they even carried the bones of the patriarch Jacob back to Hebron for
burial. This story about Abraham’s purchased burial land demonstrated that the proper
place for his descendants was none other than the land of the Canaanites.
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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

The third episode of Abraham’s progeny and death is a touching story about
Abraham’s daughter-in-law, Rebekah, who became the wife of his special son Isaac in
24:1-67. In this story, in order to ensure that Isaac would avoid Canaanite corruption,
Abraham insisted that Isaac not marry a Canaanite woman. But Abraham also insured
that Isaac would remain in the land of Canaan, the land of promise, by sending a servant
to bring a wife to Isaac. By finding a wife for Isaac in this way, Abraham insured a great
future of blessings from God for Isaac and his descendants.
The Israelites following Moses should have learned from this story that Isaac,
their ancestral connection to Abraham, remained pure from Canaanite corruption even as
he maintained his homeland in Canaan. Isaac’s bright future of blessing would be their
future as well, so long as they also resisted the corruption of the Canaanites who dwelled
in the Promised Land.
The final episode of Abraham’s life is the story of the patriarch’s death and heir in
25:1-18. This collection of several brief accounts lists Abraham’s sons by wives other
than Sarah. Then it turns to the patriarch’s death, during which Isaac received Abraham’s
final blessing as his legal heir. Finally, it closes with a contrasting section that briefly lists
Ishmael’s descendants.
This closing of Abraham’s life had many implications for the original audience. It
listed the other sons of Abraham to distinguish them from the Israelites. It highlighted
Abraham’s final blessing on Isaac to assure the Israelites following Moses that they were
the true heirs of Abraham’s promises. And it mentioned Ishmael’s descendants to dispel
any claims the Ishmaelites might have made to Abraham’s inheritance. By closing his
account of Abraham’s life in this way, Moses settled the identity, rights and
responsibilities of Abraham’s true descendants, the Israelites whom he led toward the
Promised Land.
So we see that Moses wrote his stories about the life of Abraham to teach the
Israelites he led why and how they should leave Egypt behind and move toward the
conquest of the Promised Land. To accomplish this goal, Moses stressed in various ways
in each episode of the patriarch’s life how they were the heirs of the grace given to the
patriarch, how they were responsible to be loyal to God as the patriarch had been
responsible, how they would receive blessings from God as Abraham had, and how they
would one day bless all the nations of the earth. Moses’ account of Abraham’s life had
immeasurable implications for the Israelites who followed him toward the Promised
Land.

CONCLUSION
In this lesson we have looked at the original meaning of the account of Abraham’s
life in Genesis. And we have looked in two main directions to explore this original
meaning: on the one hand we have examined the connections Moses established between
these stories and the experiences of the Israelites to whom he wrote. And on the other
hand, we have looked at how Moses designed his stories to impact his original audience
as they left Egypt behind and moved toward the conquest of Canaan.

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Father Abraham Lesson Two: The Life of Abraham:Original Meaning

As we learn more about the connections Moses drew between Abraham and the
original Israelite readers, and the impact he expected his story to have on his audience,
we will discover how each episode of Abraham’s life was intended to guide the Israelites.
And we will also be better able to discern how these stories should apply to our lives
today.

Dr. Richard L. Pratt, Jr. (Host) is Co-Founder and President of Third Millennium
Ministries. He served as Professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary
for more than 20 years and was chair of the Old Testament department. An ordained
minister, Dr. Pratt travels extensively to evangelize and teach. He studied at Westminster
Theological Seminary, received his [Link]. from Union Theological Seminary, and
earned his Th.D. in Old Testament Studies from Harvard University. Dr. Pratt is the
general editor of the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible and a translator for the
New Living Translation. He has also authored numerous articles and books, including
Pray with Your Eyes Open, Every Thought Captive, Designed for Dignity, He Gave Us
Stories, Commentary on 1 & 2 Chronicles and Commentary on 1 & 2 Corinthians.

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 Old Testament Foundations – Module Six
Father Abraham: Structure, Content, and Original Meaning
Discussion Questions

1. What was the most significant thing you learned in the lesson or something in the lesson
you didn’t quite understand?

2. What are the names this lesson gives to the three main sections of Genesis? What does
each section contain?

3. Why did Moses craft his literary portrait of Israel’s first patriarch in this way?

4. What four main themes of Abraham’s life are introduced in Genesis 12:1-3?

5. Describe the two ‘worlds’ that Moses kept in mind as he wrote for the Israelites.

6. Summarize each major step of Abraham’s life and how it related to Moses’ original
audience.

7. How does recognition of Moses’ authorship of Genesis provide insight into the meaning
of these accounts of Abraham’s life?

8. Why do you think Moses desired that the Israelites understand that their blessings had a
purpose?

9. In what ways have you and your church community been a blessing to others?

10. The motif of divine grace reminded the Israelites that they were recipients of God’s
mercy. How have you benefited from God’s divine grace?

11. Like Abraham’s failure with Hagar, at times we justify our own plans instead of
following God’s plan. In what situations are you tempted to do this?
REVIEW STATEMENT on MAJOR THEMES – UNFOLDING – DIVINE GRACE: God
initiates our relationship with him by his grace, and he sustains our relationship with him by his
grace.

CASE STUDY: John was a devout Christian, but he misunderstood God’s grace. He knew he
was saved initially by grace but somehow thought that in order to grow as a Christian he had to
earn God’s favor. So he was very active as a Christian, but he was always wondering if he had
done enough to gain God’s favor. He eventually became discouraged because even though he
was busy every day visiting people, witnessing and doing maintenance in the church building,
he didn't have the assurance that he was growing spiritually. He wondered if all his effort was
worth it, if God really noticed or cared.

Reflection Questions
1. Many Christians believe that they have been saved by grace, but that once saved, the
way to grow as a Christian is by works — by doing something to deserve it. What do
you think of this common belief? Discuss it in your learning community.
2. Many Christians, on hearing the Biblical teaching that Christians are saved initially and
sustained always by God’s grace, wonder what keeps people from taking advantage of
God’s grace. They could argue, “We might as well keep on sinning since salvation
from, beginning to end, is based on God’s grace and now on our works. God will always
forgive us anyway.” Have you ever felt this way or wondered about it? How would you
answer this question?
3. The grace of God is so radical that the apostle Paul anticipated a similar question in
Romans 6:1. I’ll paraphrase it this way: “If we are saved by grace, why not keep sinning
so people will see how gracious God is? The more we sin, the more people will see his
grace.”
a. Read Paul’s answer to the question in Romans 6:2-7 and discuss it in your learning
community.

Action Assignments
 Ask five Christians what it means to them to be saved by grace? Don’t do this as a cold
survey or test, but as a friendly conversation. See if they understand what it is, that
salvation is possible only by grace, and what it means for daily life.
 Prepare and deliver a devotional making it clear that not only initial salvation but also
Christian growth is not by works but by grace.
 Get feedback on the devotional to see if people understood.
 Rework the devotional to make it clearer and more helpful to people.