The Patriarchs
Genesis 12-50
I. Introduction
Reading the Bible Morally or Theologically?
Morally: We look to the Old Testament as a showcase of moral
examples to live by. We need to be like Abraham, live like Jacob, and be
a leader like Moses, Joshua, or David. We should fight like Samson, flee
like Joseph, and stand up for God like Esther.
Theologically: we look first and foremost at what the passage
teaches us about God. What is God doing? How is God revealing
Himself? How is God going to overcome our sin, keep His promises, and
reestablish the Eden-like relationship He created us for?
II. Judgment and Grace in Genesis
Adam and Eve were removed from the garden, but there was the
promise of a deliverer.
Cain murdered his brother, but then Seth was born and there was a
new line of hope.
The flood destroyed all life, but Noah was saved in the ark.
God brought His judgment at the Tower of Babel and we are introduced
to a man named Abraham
III. Abraham: Calling and Promise
When God calls Abraham, he knows nothing about God and he is from
a family that _______idols_________. (Joshua 24:2)
The Promise – Genesis 12:1-3
Land
Nation
Blessing
ofor the _______nations__________
othrough a __________mediator_____________
The Promise: Genesis 22:17-18
God further develops his promise to Abraham by specifically saying
that someone from Abraham’s family will be the
______________________________for all the world.
IV. Two Old Testament Questions
Who _____________is the one who will come and break the
curse_________?
How _______in the world is the world blessed through
Abraham___________?
V. Are These Questions Related?
Galatians 3:8 - “The Scripture ... announced the Gospel in advance to
Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you” (quoting Gen 12:3)
Galatians 3:16 - “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to
his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but
rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is, Christ”
VI. The Abrahamic Covenant
Genesis 15:9-10
He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old
female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young
pigeon.”
So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and
laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the
birds.
In this type of covenant ceremony an animal is divided into two and
each party _______walks_________ between the two halves of the dead
animal.
This is a ___________visual proclamation________________ that, “I will
keep my word and if I don’t you may do to me as we have done to this
animal.”
Genesis 15: 12,17
“As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a
terrifying darkness came down over him…After the sun went
down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking fire pot and a
flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses.”
In this covenant ceremony, God put ________Abraham___________ to
sleep and He alone __________walks__________ through the animals.
God’s covenant with Abraham will not be a _______transaction_________
it will be a __________one-sided gift____________.
VII. The Abrahamic Covenant: From Abraham to Jesus
God promises to ________bless___________ Abraham an in turn he would
be a __________blessing____________ to the nations.
That “blessing to the nations” would come through one of his
______descendants__________.
This covenant is _________one-sided_________. God will keep all of the
_______terms________.
The descendent of this covenant is ___________Jesus
Christ_____________.
God’s _________one-sided____________ love for us is seen in
_____________Jesus Christ____________ and his death on the cross.
VIII. Abraham’s Fragile Faith & God’s Response
Abraham’s Fragile Faith
Flees to ________Egypt_________ during a famine. (Genesis 12)
Lies about his wife Sarah and says she is his _______sister_________
(2x’s). (Genesis 12; 20)
Wants to name Eliezer his heir. (Genesis 15)
Agrees with Sarah’s idea to have sex with her servant
________Hagar_________ in hopes of having a child. (Genesis 16)
Wants to name __________Ishmael___________, the child he has with
Hagar, his heir. (Genesis 17)
God’s Response
God’s responds to Abraham’s ___________faithlessness_____________
with His own covenant ____________faithfulness_____________ (Genesis
15 & 17).
Faithfulness represented visually: Stars at night, Covenant ceremony,
Covenant sign (circumcision), and a Name change (Abram to Abraham
& Sarai to Sarah).
IX. Abraham and Isaac
____________Twenty-five________________ years after God’s promises a
son will be born to Abraham and his wife Sarah, Isaac is born.
Ishmael, the child of Abraham and Hagar, treats Isaac poorly and Sarah
has Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away.
Abraham’s faith is tested when God asks him to ______sacrifice
Isaac_______.
oTest of _________Faith_________: How would God provide if Isaac
was sacrificed or how would God provide if Isaac was spared?
oTest of _________Hope____________: If Isaac died, how would he
become a great nation and how would all the nations be blessed
through him?
oTest of _________Love__________: Abraham loved his son but he
loved God more.
X. Mount Moriah and Mount Calvary
“And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, so today
it is said: ‘It will be provided on the Lord’s mountain. Genesis ’” (
22:14)
Many years later on Mt. Calvary a sacrifice did occur. On the cross of
Calvary Jesus laid down his life so that “It [salvation] will be provided
on the Lord’s mountain.”
XI. God, Abraham, and You and I
God’s love flows from His character. God loved Abraham because of
God not because of what he did or did not do. God loves you and I
because of who He is and because of what He has done, not because
of what you and I do or don’t do.
XII. Isaac and Rebekah: Background
_______________ has died, ___________________ is getting old, and
_________________ is not married.
The _____________________ are an idolatrous and immoral people.
Choosing a wife from this nation would go against God’s commands.
If _____________________were to leave the land he would be leaving the
__________________ God promised to _________________________ and his
decedents.
XIII. Isaac and Rebekah: God at Work
Abraham sends his servant back to _________________________ to find a
wife for Isaac.
Both ______________________ and his ______________________ pray for
God’s direction. That He will lead them to the woman of God’s
choosing.
God leads the servant to _________________________ who willingly agrees
to go back with the servant and become ______________________ wife.
XIV. From Isaac to Jacob
Isaac and Rebekah have two children; Twins: _______Esau_________ and
_________Jacob________
___________Esau____________ is the first born and becomes “a skillful
hunter…an outdoorsman.” (Gen. 25:27)
___________Jacob____________ is smooth skinned. He has a “quiet
temperament preferring to stay at home.” (Gen. 25:27)
__________Isaac___________ loved Esau because he loved the wild game
he brought home. __________Rebekah___________ loved Jacob. (Gen.
25:28)
XV. The Birthright and The Blessing
The Birthright: ___________Leadership___________ of the family
The Blessing: Double portion of the
____________inheritance______________
XVI. Jacob: The Hustler
Jacob hustles his _________brother_________ out the birthright. (Gen. 25:
27-34)
Jacob hustles his father into giving him the
______________blessing___________. (Gen. 27)
Jacob may even be attempting to hustle __________God___________ into
being his God. (Gen. 28:20-21)
What is faith?
Faith is living life without __________scheming____________.
Yet, while Jacob is __________faithless___________, God remains
_________faithful__________ to him and to His promise.
XVII. Jacob: The Hustled
Jacob is tricked by Laban into marrying both ________Leah__________
and _________Rachel___________ and into more years of labor.
After ______20_______ years of service to Laban, God calls Jacob to head
back home and reveals that his success has come because God has
seen how he has been treated. God continues to be gracious to Jacob.
XVIII. Jacob’s Children
Reuben (Leah) Simeon (Leah)
Levi (Leah) Judah (Leah) - Birthright
Dan (Bilhah) Naphtali (Bilhah)
Gad (Zilpah) Ashur (Zilpah)
Issachar (Leah) Zebulon (Leah)
Joseph (Rachel) - Benjamin (Rachel)Blessing
XIX. Jacob: The Grabber
Jacob is heading home when he finds out that ________Esau_________
and _______400_______ men are coming to meet him. He is terrified that
Esau want to kill him.
Jacob wrestles with God until finally God breaks him and in this
_________weakness__________ he is now a different character. He is no
longer Jacob he is ________Israel_________.
________Brokenness__________ precedes
___________usefulness___________ - As a broken man Jacob is now
completely dependent on God.
It is in and through our ____________weakness__________ that we are
most _________useable__________ to God.
Jacob meets ________Esau_________ but he does not go with him
because he is afraid of him.
Instead of going with Esau, Jacob moves outside the town of
__________Shechem___________. One of the worst towns in
__________Canaan__________.
XX. Jacob: The Grabbed
God calls Jacob out of __________Shechem__________ and tells him to
return to ________Bethel__________.
Jacob tells his family to put away all of their __________idols__________.
He buries them under a tree and they head to ________Bethel__________.
