Preview

Abraham & Moses

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1131 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Abraham & Moses
Abram is presented to us as an old man without an offspring or heir. He is at the age of seventy-five when God comes to him with the offer of the covenant. Abraham stands for devotion, justice, compassion, faith, tact, and personal integrity. He is also seen as cunning, humorous, and pragmatic throughout the story. Abram is a man looking for his faith, and God asks Abram to leave his land and kinship to a land which God will show him. In exchange for Abram's faith and compliance, God will make of Abram a great nation, make his name great, bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him, and finally all the communities of the Earth will find blessing in him.
The covenant is a basic understanding between Abram and God that Abram and his people will assume that God is the one and only God. In exchange for their faith, God will initially provide them lands (Canaan) and riches. After Abraham is provided the lands and riches, he still needs a son or heir to carry on his name and provide descendants of his lineage. God comes through for Abraham, and provides him a child when he is 100 years old and Sarah is 99 years old. Although Abraham laughed when God told him that Sarah would give birth at her old age, Abraham had faith in God and believed that God would eventually provide Abraham with a worthy heir or successor in Isaac. Abraham continued to have faith in God whenever God spoke to Abraham, and as a final test of Abraham's faith, God asked Abraham to do the unthinkable.
God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to the Lord in order to test Abraham's faith. God knew that if Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, Abraham must truly believe in God. Abraham took Isaac away from their lands and traveled to where God asked him to set up an altar. Then, just as Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac, a messenger of God's stopped Abraham. Abraham found out that this was God's final test before the covenant was finalized. God told Abraham that all his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    | This marks the beginning of the everlasting covenant that God promised Abram for his faith and belief in Him.…

    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Abraham was called by God to give up his polytheistic ways. God promised Abraham that he would never give up on him. As Heinsch states, “he had to journey to a foreign land alone trusting in God’s guidance.” If Abraham fulfilled this request God promised him three things, Great Nation, Land (which was Canaan) and Protection. At this time, Abraham worshipped the popular moon god, “sin” and was to break with idolatry and become monotheistic. Epstein stated that, “Abraham turned to the service of the one and only God whom he recognised as the creator of…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Midterm Study Guide

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages

    God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the mountain, but when he was about to complete the sacrifice an angel came down and told him to stop and sacrifice an animal (ram?) instead. It was a test of loyalty.…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham reflects this idea of imitatio dei or emulation of God by setting a paradigm to be followed, one that is worthy of imitation (Levine). By striving to immolate a representative or prophet of God, Jews are helping themselves to greater immediacy with connection to God. They are drawing near to God by immolating his agents on earth. This reoccurring idea of being tested throughout Abraham’s journey, from rejecting the idolatry religion of his father Terach to undergoing painful circumcision at 99 years of age and so on, Abraham demonstrates that followers of God should do what they are asked especially if one is convicted by the existence of a perfect Creator. At the end of Genesis 11, the genealogy listed Abraham as the new hope for…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Too Chains

    • 7209 Words
    • 29 Pages

    Abraham - God made a covenant with him (story of Abraham: pg. 128) (J, C, I)…

    • 7209 Words
    • 29 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Abrahamic Covenant

    • 2118 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Genesis 12:3- I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”…

    • 2118 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It was important for God to reveal himself through covenant because it gives the people a chance to make decisions and to work towards something. He promises us eternal life if we keep his commandments. There are covenants throughout the whole bible.…

    • 1030 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Genesis 22

    • 1847 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Throughout the Old Testament, God poses many challenges for people both in the sense of entire nations to individuals as well. In each instance there was a purpose for the challenges. Sometimes God was looking to see how people would act and follow laws and other times he wanted to test them. In Genesis 22 God posed a test for Abraham. He commanded him to travel to Moriah and offer his son Isaac to him as a burnt offering. Abraham obeys God and takes Isaac to the place God had told him. He brings with him two of his servants and on the way to the mountain Isaac asks Abraham why there is not sheep for the offering. It would seem that Isaac was catching on to what was happening and he still did not hesitate to follow his father carrying the very wood he was to be burned with. When Abraham was about to slay his son an angel of the Lord stopped him and told him that since he did not withhold his son he was the favored one.…

    • 1847 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    God promised Abram that He would make him into a great nation and five times God says He will bless him. God further pronounces, “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). The land Abram went to is believed to be Canaan, which is now modern-day Israel. Abram was promised by God that He would give him and his descendants this land (Gen. 12:7). The time Abram left from Ur to go to Canaan was around 20th – 19th century B.C.E.…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapters 30-31

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This covenant is established on the return from exile. This event will bring the people together. In contrast to the previous covenant, this covenant is unbreakable. God adds a salvific element to this covenant. He will write the law upon their hearts and they shall know him. This covenant was not one that the people entered into, like with Abram. God is now establishing a vertical relationship with his people. He is entering the people and forming the relationship. The covenant is much more individual. God says that he will no longer remember the sin. He is going to disregard their faults and move on with this new covenant. God seems to offer the people no real option. They have to enter into this covenant and it will be best for them as individuals and as a nation. This forgiveness is free for the people. This forgiveness comes with repentance. No longer shall the people desire to do evil but rather to do what is good and worth in the sight of God. There are no restrictions on this covenant, even the lowest people in Israel get God’s love, not just the high priests. God is establishing the covenant that he had wanted all along. He speaks to Israel as if they were children “Is E’phraim my dear son? . . . Therefore my heart yearns for him, I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord” (Chapter 30, vs.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Abraham covenant and the importance of the covenant in the life of Abraham is…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Old Testament Covenants

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The agreement requires for Abram to leave his home and travel to a land that God would show him. The agreement was only for Abram, who also took his nephew and all the souls he was responsible for. If Abram fulfilled his commitment, God would make him a great nation, bless him, and make his name great. God would also, bless anyone that blessed Abram and curse those that curse him. Finally, because of Abram’s obedience, God will bless all people. This passage reestablishes the concept where man’s obedience before sets the stage for God to fulfill his portion of the agreement.…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hebrew religion consisted of a single omnipotent god, Yahweh, while the Mesopotamians and Egyptians had multiple gods who each controlled their own section in nature. This means that the Hebrews only had to follow orders from one god, whereas Mesopotamians and Egyptians had to work hard to keep all of the gods happy. If what one god’s orders conflicted with another god’s orders, the people were forced to take sides, and unity would break. This could cause disputes amongst the two sides, and war could potentially break out. Alongside monotheism, the covenant also plays a major role in the structure of Hebrew religion. It is a pact that Abraham made with Yahweh, which both Yahweh and the Hebrew people had to follow. In exchange for land, a great nation, and guidance, the people had to worship Yahweh as their only god. This covenant keeps the Hebrews united, all following one god and one message, instead of listening to a whole pantheon of gods, all with different…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Exegesis of Genesis 22:1-19

    • 2399 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The biblical context of Genesis, divides it into two sections. Genesis 1-10 describes the creation story and the flood. Genesis 11-50 provides the genealogy of Abraham’s family, back to Noah, followed by the tradition of the earliest ancestors of Israel (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob known as the ‘Patriarchs’) wherein their faith is rooted and articulated (Brueggemann, 2003:43.) It is essentially a book of promises, a preface to the history of the Israel; identifying the nation of Israel and its God (Barton 2001:39).In Genesis 12 we see God choosing Abram, like Noah. A relationship ensues whereby Abram obediently follows God’s commands. God graciously acts in his life, providing him with a much wanted son and heir from his barren wife, Sarai. Abram pleases God who establishes covenants (God initiated agreements with man (Holdsworth 2005:59) with him, renaming him Abraham (and his wife Sarah); making them founders of the nation of Israel. The final chapter finds Jacob and his family in Egypt; precluding a central storyline the ‘Exodus’ ;the foundation of Jewish history and faith (Barton…

    • 2399 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    So Abraham goes ahead, builds the altar, ties up Isaac, and is on the point of killing him (verses 9-10). At the very last moment, the angel calls out 'Stop! Don't hurt the boy... now I know that you honor and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from me.' (verses 11-12). Abraham has passed the test!…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics