However, Abraham,
like
David later, did some horrible things in his life: To start with, Abram.(name
changed later to Abraham).was
told by Creator-God to get out from where he was and go somewhere else.
Abraham did not want to go alone so he took someone with him. God gave
him no instructions to take anyone else:.Genesis
12:1,4. But the Creator did not say not to either. Abraham knew that
and used it to his advantage. Good for him! He also didn't ask whether
or not it was ok. Ha! ha! He was no fool in getting what he wanted within
the framework of Creator's will.
But he does do some things
that reveal his character is much like the rest of us. Abraham lies to
protect himself and gets his woman partner involved in the little scheme
too:.Genesis
12:9-20.
Then Abraham, urged on by
his woman, has sex with her maid Hagar
and then this brings its own set of problems:.Genesis
16:1-4.
Then Abraham did not believe
his Creator.(in
this regard).when
Creator told him that he, being 99 years old, was going to have a son:.Genesis
17:16,17. The whole story is here:.Genesis
21:1-21 to 22:1-18.
Abraham lies to protect himself
again. Hey! It worked the first time, so why not he figures. Abraham involves
his woman in it again and she even goes along with it the second time!.Genesis
20:2-13.(notice
in verses 12 and 13 how Abraham worms around trying to justify
himself).
Isaac.(Matthew
22:32).lived
in circa.B.C.E.
1896-1705. Most of his life was spent in the southern part of Canaan.(map).and
its vicinity.
He lived to be 180. His brother was Esau.
As father Abraham
was, so also is Abraham's son Isaac:.Genesis
17:19.
Apart from the two children
he had, the one by Sarah named Isaac and the other by Hagar named Ishmael,
Abraham had many other children by another woman named Keturah:.Genesis
25:1-6.
Isaac does similarly
to Abraham, his father:.Genesis
26:7-17. But Creator-God blesses him nevertheless, just as he did Abraham,
Isaac's father. Why? They both, like Rahab
the prostitute, had that higher form of righteousness, that of belief,
a spiritual quality which is of one's soul.
They knew the Creator was real and they had some of the high
consciousness attributes of the Creator.
Jacob,
B.C.E.
1836-1689, was the son of Isaac.(Genesis
17:19).and
Abraham's grandson. He also had an interesting life.
Jacob's name was changed
to Israel
for a reason:.Genesis
32:28 "And he said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel,
for as a prince have you power with God and with men and have prevailed.".What
led to this? Here's the story:.Genesis
32:24-28.
The ancient world was to
be enriched through the peoples that came through the lineage
of Abraham, Isaac.(Genesis
17:19),.Jacob,
and Joseph, the people who
believed in God back then:.Genesis
12:2. And, we'll visit with them in the kingdom of God:.Matthew
8:11. Jacob is synonymous
with the name Israel. Today Israel is all those of God:.Galatians
6;15,16.
The modern world is also
to be blessed through those who believe what it means that Emmanuel
came to
reestablish.(this
time in the physical).a
relationship with God the Father.
I mean, the Creator talked
to Abraham and Abraham knew who it was God was conversing with, in a sense.
What
does 'in a sense' mean? Didn't Abraham here think that his Creator
would protect him? No! And this even after the Creator had told him this:.Genesis
15:1.
After all
the wrong Abraham did, it sure took
faith to believe that he was still a friend of his Creator;
again,
James 2:23.
In
spite of all his shortcomings, the Creator inspired scriptures to be
written about him and why?.Romans
4:3,7.
The lesson of Abraham is
that doing things apart from what the Creator wants cannot
separate you from Him. There is never a reason anymore to ever feel
hopeless.
Abraham
does trust his Creator that things will work out the best for his life
though
and Abraham would go to any length to create peace:.Genesis
13:8,9. He gave the other guy the first choice, seeing his Creator
working all things out for the benefit of all, at least at this juncture,
he saw the Creator guiding things behind the scenes:.Romans
8:28.
Genesis
25:7,8 "And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which
he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up
the ghost and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years and
was gathered to his people."
About Moses
If you have not seen the
old movie The Ten Commandments, which beautifully follows the story
of Moses.(and
the ancient Israelites exodus
from Egypt), you can read
about him here.
According to the biblical
account, Moses' parents were from the tribe of Levi, one of the groups
in Egypt called Hebrews.
Originally the term Hebrew had nothing to do with race or ethnic origin.
It derived from Habiru, a variant spelling of apiru.(Apiru),
a designation of a class of people who made their living by hiring themselves
out for various services. The biblical Hebrews had been in Egypt for generations:.Genesis
15:13,14. When the Egyptians saw them multiplying so quickly, they
were perceived as a growing threat:.Exodus
1:19,20. One of the pharaohs enslaved them, which
one? Unfortunately, the personal name of the king is not given and
scholars have disagreed as to his identity and hence, as to the date of
the events of the narrative of Moses.
Moses was born about B.C.E.
1571, 85 years after the flood in 1656 when Noah
was 600 years old:.Genesis
5:32. Moses was the son of Amram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi,
one of the groups of Hebrews
in Egypt. Moses was the younger brother of Miriam
and Aaron. His name 'Mo' = 'water'
and 'use' = 'saved', so the name Moses. He was destined to save his people
by water. This was called the
exodus.
Before Moses, other important
personages were the patriarch.Abraham,
then Issac, Abraham's son, then Jacob
who was Issac's son and then Jacob's son Joseph.
And the genealogy
carries on. And the lineage of Moses, Elijah, etc.
The woman Moses had was
Zipporah.(who
was an Ethiopian woman, so she probably was of the black race:.Genesis
2:11; Numbers 12:1),
the daughter of a man named Hobab, the son of Reuel:.Exodus
2:18.
Moses had trouble believing
his Creator even when he was spoken to directly by Him:.Exodus
4:11-16. It shows here that the Creator greatly regards our feelings
about things and changes His mind to accomodate
one's feelings, even though the Creator's patience really was tried in
this case with Moses. Moses was an individual who felt
deeply for others he was leading. But he
did so many wrong things, as did so many others, yet God loved them
all and showed it.
Meek Moses.(Numbers
12:3).cared
deeply for others, but had an angry
streak that cost him dearly. He was not to go over the river
Jordan into the land
of Canaan God had promised to the children of those who came out of
Egyptian bondage. The adults, because of their constant carping
and complaining could not go into the land either. Only their children,
now adults, could go.
Never be hesitant
to make your thoughts known to the Creator. Be open and forthright.
If you have something against Him, tell
Him. The ancient Israelites
and Judahites had much against God,
so much so, that they didn't want God around at all:.Jeremiah
44:16,17.
They despised
the over 600+ Mosaic laws and who in his right mind wouldn't? The Mosaic
Law with its many rules,
regulations, offerings and sacrifices was onerous,
complicated
and burdensome.
It was meant to lead people into a higher consciousness, the consciousess
of love:.Romans
13:10.
But those ancients had
no interest in spiritual concerns. In addition, the religious people
who adhered
to the Mosaic Law throughout history added even more to it! It was a disaster.
It was just too much for people, especially so as the people had no
heart for it. Who would? It has been completely
abolished.along
with the ancient religious system that perpetuated
it for their own advantage.
Moses had great problems
bringing the children of Israel out of captivity in Egypt and toward a
better life in a different land. He was a little over 80 years of age at
this time and they just complained all day, every day and about everything:.Exodus
32:6; Exodus 14:11,12; 15:24;
16:2,3;
17:2-7;
Numbers
11:1-15;
12:1,2;
21:4,5.
Moses, upon finding out
from the Creator how fed
up He was with the corruption
of the ancient.Israelites,
gets God to change His mind on what God was going to do:.Exodus
32:7-14,31,32. And this happened time
and time again throughout the Old Testament:.Isaiah
19:20,21.
Moses died at 120 years old:.Deuteronomy
34:1-7.
