The stories of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph had been handed down by word of mouth in Israel for generations. Before their written formulation, these stories went through a process of selection and interpretation, which aimed at setting in the clearest possible light the essential truth of the events through which God worked out His plan in human history. The traditional stories of the patriarchs are more than mere biographies; rather, they articulate the faith of the people of God, they personify the basic relationship of the chosen people to the God who had chosen them.
If Abraham is an historical individual, he is also the personification of faith. His faith stands as a constant reminder to the people of God that faith establishes them in their most basic relationship to God. St. Paul views Abraham in this way when he calls him the father of all those who believe in God (Rom 4:16). Jacob, on the other hand, symbolises Israel’s consciousness of her own moral shortcomings, which play a constant counterpoint to her comforting realisation of God’s patient forbearance and saving goodness. In Joseph, finally, the people of God express what they think the love of God is like. Abraham, Jacob and Joseph thus personify man’s basic relationship to God. (Joseph, however, also personifies God’s saving covenant love for His people.)
The call of Abraham is an event of supreme importance in both Old and New Testament history. Just how the relationship between Abraham and his personal God began, and in what it consisted, remains mysterious. But the Bible leaves no doubt that it was personal and not shared by his kindred (Jos 24:2). Genesis does not present us with a distillation of the heroic exploits of Abraham, but rather stresses the initiative, the actions and the purpose of God in His choice of the patriarch. It is God who calls and God who makes the covenant. It is Abraham who responds in faith to the divine initiative. But this relationship of election, covenant and responsive faith is remembered not only for what it was, but also for what it continued to be. The people of God read of themselves in the stories ofthe patriarch. They understand the terms of their own existence, and its essential meaning, in the relationship between God and Abraham.
To Abraham is made the promise: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you…and through you all the peoples of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:2-3). To possess a land, to become a great nation, to be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth is the threefold promise which runs like a golden thread through the tapestry of the Genesis epic, from Abraham to the conquest.
The divine promise is a challenge to Abraham’s faith by the very vagueness with which the goal is indicated and by the magnitude of God’s demands, which appears in the simple enumeration of what Abraham must voluntarily surrender: “Go from your country, your kindred, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Gen 12:1). Abraham’s first step must be a gesture of renunciation of all the support and security normally provided by a man’s kinsfolk and neighbours. The very essence of this vocation, as of every other, is trust in God (Mt 10:37)
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Answer:
The stories of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph had been handed down by word of mouth in Israel for generations. Before their written formulation, these stories went through a process of selection and interpretation, which aimed at setting in the clearest possible light the essential truth of the events through which God worked out His plan in human history. The traditional stories of the patriarchs are more than mere biographies; rather, they articulate the faith of the people of God, they personify the basic relationship of the chosen people to the God who had chosen them.
If Abraham is an historical individual, he is also the personification of faith. His faith stands as a constant reminder to the people of God that faith establishes them in their most basic relationship to God. St. Paul views Abraham in this way when he calls him the father of all those who believe in God (Rom 4:16). Jacob, on the other hand, symbolises Israel’s consciousness of her own moral shortcomings, which play a constant counterpoint to her comforting realisation of God’s patient forbearance and saving goodness. In Joseph, finally, the people of God express what they think the love of God is like. Abraham, Jacob and Joseph thus personify man’s basic relationship to God. (Joseph, however, also personifies God’s saving covenant love for His people.)
The call of Abraham is an event of supreme importance in both Old and New Testament history. Just how the relationship between Abraham and his personal God began, and in what it consisted, remains mysterious. But the Bible leaves no doubt that it was personal and not shared by his kindred (Jos 24:2). Genesis does not present us with a distillation of the heroic exploits of Abraham, but rather stresses the initiative, the actions and the purpose of God in His choice of the patriarch. It is God who calls and God who makes the covenant. It is Abraham who responds in faith to the divine initiative. But this relationship of election, covenant and responsive faith is remembered not only for what it was, but also for what it continued to be. The people of God read of themselves in the stories ofthe patriarch. They understand the terms of their own existence, and its essential meaning, in the relationship between God and Abraham.
To Abraham is made the promise: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you…and through you all the peoples of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:2-3). To possess a land, to become a great nation, to be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth is the threefold promise which runs like a golden thread through the tapestry of the Genesis epic, from Abraham to the conquest.
The divine promise is a challenge to Abraham’s faith by the very vagueness with which the goal is indicated and by the magnitude of God’s demands, which appears in the simple enumeration of what Abraham must voluntarily surrender: “Go from your country, your kindred, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Gen 12:1). Abraham’s first step must be a gesture of renunciation of all the support and security normally provided by a man’s kinsfolk and neighbours. The very essence of this vocation, as of every other, is trust in God (Mt 10:37)
Explanation:
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https://www.faith.org.uk/article/january-february-2003-patriarchs-of-faith-hope-and-love