THE LIFE OF THE PATRIARCHS #1

Lesson 3682

THE LIFE OF THE PATRIARCHS #1

In Acts 3:13, Peter refers to the lives of the Patriarchs - how their faith pointed to Jesus as the Messiah.

"The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus."

It was a timely reminder of the need to remember Patriarchs even in the New Testament as they were the first members of the family who were to become a nation from which Jesus the Messiah will come from.

God called Abraham to leave his home in Ur and go to 'a land that I am going to show you' (Genesis 12.1). He set out without knowing where he was going, but confident that God would guide him.

His son Isaac and grandson Jacob would continue the journey after him.

Under Moses, their captivity in Egypt would come to an end and they would enter the Promised Land as a nation.

The stories about the Patriarchs in Genesis portray them as very human, fallible people. They sin and go astray, they argue with God and act very foolishly, but at the same time, they have an intense and intimate relationship with him. 

Again and again, God reinforces his promises to them.

After Jacob dreamed of a ladder up to heaven with angels going up and down on it, God says to him: 'I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and I will also give it to your descendants after you' (Genesis 35.12). 

As well as these men, there are women in the story too. Sarah, Abraham's wife, has a character all of her own. She, Rebekah, and Rachel are not just afterthoughts in the story, but an integral part of it – and there are many other women who figure as well. 

God does not just work through great men – a common enough idea at the time, and since then too – but through great women as well.

When we read about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their complicated family lives and their various trials and tribulations, we can learn a lot that speaks into our own human situations today.

But we're also seeing how the knowledge of God was growing and deepening in the lives of one particular family who were chosen to reveal Him to the world. 

Adam and Noah failed God. But in Abraham God found a person at last who would become the father of faith.

God's promises to the Patriarchs would guide the people of Israel throughout their history.

And if we do not learn from their history, we will be repeating their same mistakes.

For example, Abraham had feared - and told lies to cover himself.

Isaac was a mama's boy who was dominated and deceived by his wife Rebekah and Jacob.

Jacob cared for himself first and foremost and had obvious favoritism for Joseph which brought disunity among his other sons.

But when these three Patriarchs personally encountered God, they changed their character and became champions of the faith.

God is not looking for perfection but spiritual maturity - how to depend on Him for all His blessings upon their lives and not upon the things of the world. It translates as "Less of us, more of Him."

Like John, the Baptist said of Jesus:

John 3:30

" He must increase, but I must decrease.”