Exam Friday, 19 September Exam Policies – also posted on Blackboard

1. Exam Friday, 19 SeptemberExam Policies – also posted on Blackboard • **You may start the exam as early as 8:45 if you wish. **The exams will be on the chairs in the classroom. Once you have chosen a place to sit, you must stay there. **If you need to use a left-handed desk, be sure to arrive in sufficient time to claim one. **If you wish to take the exam in the Academic Support Center, you must make arrangements with the personnel there and then notify me by Wednesday. **If you miss an exam for any reason whatsoever, the make-up exam will be essay format and it will be administered on reading day at the end of the semester. **If there should be a fire drill during an exam, simply turn over your exam, exit as quickly as possible, and do not talk together at all while out of the room.

2. Psalm 100:5 • KI TOV ADONAI • Because good (is) the LORD • LE’OLAM ḤASDO (2X) • To eternity (is) His hesed • VE’AD DOR VE-DOR (2X) • And unto generation and generation • EMUNATO • His faithfulness

3. An Introductory Question • At what point did Abram “believe God and it was credited to him as righteousness”? • When Sarah finally had a child • After he proposed that Eliezer would inherit his estate instead of an actual son and God responded by telling him to look to the heavens, count the stars, and believe that indeed he would have a son • After he circumcised all the male members of his household and changed his name • When he returned from the battle to rescue Lot

4. And the answer is… • After he proposed that Eliezer would inherit his estate instead of an actual son and God responded by telling him to look to the heavens, count the stars, and believe that indeed he would have a son • Your questions?

5. Moving from Ur to Canaan (Josh 24:2) • Journeys of Abraham-Ur to Egypt

6. The land of the patriarchs: Shechem

7. East of Bethel

8. The Negev

9. Definitions • Patriarchs and matriarchs • Covenant – an agreement between two parties that establishes a relationship, entails obligations on both sides and is accompanied by sanctions.

10. Literary and Theological Observations • Narratives are about individuals, have implications for God’s chosen people and their relationship with Him, and teach us about the sovereign universal plan of God as it is worked out through human history from creation to the final victory • The pattern of Abraham’s life: Romans 4:11 – Abraham is the father of all who believe

11. Genesis 12:1-7 – initial call and covenant promises • Blessings – first three for Abram; last three through Abram • Great nation (offspring) • Blessing – which will include the land (12:7) • Name will be great • Be a blessing – an imperative • Those who bless will be blessed • Those who curse will be cursed • All nations will be blessed through Abram • Galatians 3:6-8 – “announced the Gospel ahead of time”

12. Reaffirmations of the Covenant • Genesis 13:14-17 – after Lot departed to the plain of the Jordan Valley • Genesis 15 – the promise of the son and cutting the covenant • Genesis 17 – • Requirements of a covenant people • Abram becomes Abraham • The sign of the covenant – circumcision • Isaac promised by name

13. Fulfillment of the Promise • Genesis 21:1-7 – the birth of Isaac • Romans 4:21-24 – Abraham’s faith = our faith

14. The trials and tribulations of Abraham’s life • The strategy to spare his life (Gen12:8-20 and ch 20) – a puzzling pattern • Abram’s “adoption” of Sarai as sister (Gen 12 and 20) – “everywhere we go” (20:13) • The traditional view – this is a serious moral lapse on the part of Abram • A different explanation – with this plan, Abram intended to protect his marriage (Gordon Hugenberger, 2002)

15. Problems with the Traditional View • God punished both Pharaoh and Abimelekh; the implication is that they did something reprehensible • The Bible declares that Abraham was morally upright (Gen 26:3-5) • In a culture based on honor and shame (ANE), no man would give his wife to another man • Women are enjoined to be like Sarah (I Pet:1-6) • Abraham never “repents” of this choice • Pharaoh sent Abraham away very wealthy

16. A Suggestion: Based on Hurrian Custom • Kings in the ANE entered into marriages to increase their wealth and power • Sarai represented a wealthy family and would be a temptation • In the sister-adoption realm, however, there would not have been a dowry (because the brother was not a husband) • If the brother were killed, the wealth would not go to the sister • Thus, rulers should not have been tempted by Sarai. • Note translation of 12:13 – “my life will be spared for you” • Abraham did not imagine that Pharaoh and Abimelekh would abduct his sister without asking permission (which he would never give)

17. Egypt and the Exodus Parallels • God punished Pharaoh – an adumbration of the plagues • Abraham left Egypt wealthy; as Israel would do some four centuries later

18. Additional Trials • Problems related to Lot • Settling in Sodom (Gen 13:1-13) • War with the kings and encounter with Melchizedek (Gen 14) – “King of Righteousness, King of Salem, priest of God Most High” – Abraham gave the tithe to Melchizedek • Diplomacy to save Sodom (Gen 18,19) – the sins of Sodom (Ezekiel 16:49-50; Jude 7) • Lot’s descendants (Moab and Ammon) • Attempts to “force God’s hand” and the results (Gen 16 and 21)

19. Promise and Test Come Together: The Command to Sacrifice Isaac • What was the test? • What is faith? (Hebrews 11:17-19) • Isaac’s obedience • The intervention of the Lord – the symbolism of the ram in the thicket (Deut 21:23) • Possible parallels with Jesus