The Patriarchal Era

Introduction

The Patriarchal biblical time period began off the heels of the Babylonian Babel tower catastrophe in where the people conspired to build a tower to reach the heavens and make “a name for themselves” but were divided and dispersed by God as a result of their insurrection and disobedience to “fill the earth”.  The patriarchs where established and the story of the descendants are told in Genesis 11:7, starting with Abraham, through Genesis 50 with Joseph one of the sons of Jacob and the 12 tribes of Israel.  These were to be the heads of their families and God’s nation.

Historical Context

            The Patriarchal Era is the time period in which the chosen men of God would lead their families into becoming what eventually would be the nation of Israel, a people of God’s choosing. 

            The tower of Babel had just fallen and the peoples of Mesopotamia disbursed.  This is significant.  The tower was to be a representation of human autonomy which was the opposite of God’s will and design (Gen. 11:3).  It was an attempt to establish their own will and their ways.  The tower had to fall.  The people dispersed.  Could this show of human insurrection to the authority and sovereignty of God pave the way to the Patriarch period whereby God would instill an era of godly men who would follow God and God alone (Gen.11:7)?  We see evidence of this when the Lord says in Genesis 18:19, “For I have chosen him [Abraham], that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice…”.

In a Chaldean town called Ur, Abraham lived and married Sarah, his sister because of their common father.  His father-in-law decides to move the entire family and all their possessions to Canaan, the not-yet promised land.  Abraham’s father-in-law only makes it to Haran which is where he decides to settle (Gen.11:32).   It is in Horan where God tells Abraham he must “Go” leave his land and head towards a land that God will give his descendants.

From Abraham’s sons, Ishamel and Issac, Isaac is the son of the promise.  It is through Isaac that Jacob is born.  Jacob, from birth, is manipulative and a deceiver which we see he gets from his mother.  Throughout his youth, he manipulates situations for his benefit such as manipulating Esau out his birthright.  When it comes time for Jacob to marry it is he who is deceived and is forced to endure seven additional years of servitude to the very man who deceived him. 

As Jacob is finally journeying home through the desert, he has an encounter with God.  They wrestle.  What is it that they are wrestling for?  Jacob states it so that may be blessed by his attacker.  I believe it is meant for Jacob to wrestle with that which lies deep within him.  As this wrestling match continues, the Lord touches Jacob hip and it comes out of his socket. Jacob is eventually blessed.  After this wrestling match with God, Jacob was finally ready to become what God meant him to be, the third father of His nation, and so the Lord names him Israel.  From Jacob, now Israel, will come what will be the twelve tribes of Israel, the nation and people of God. One son of particular importance to the Patriarchal period was Joseph.

Joseph, the second youngest of the sons of Israel would meet trial after trial of apparent insurmountable odds all through which God’s hand was upon him using each trial to pave the way to his destiny, second in command of Egypt through a famine and ultimately saving many in the process.

Timeless Principle #1: The Lord blesses so that we in turn can be a blessing.

“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen.12:1-3).”  Our gifts and blessing were never meant be horded but shared with the rest of His creation.  Here the Lord clearly informs Abraham that the reason He will bless him is so that he would be a blessing.  How?  It is through Abraham that God will build a people that will become a true representation of God Himself, the people of the promised son, Isaac.  In addition, Abraham would father all other nations through his son, Ishmael and later Isaac through Esau. Truly Abraham would be the father of all nations.

God reaffirms His promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:7 that his descendants will be given the promised land of Canaan as well as blessing him with wealth. Abraham started out with possessions accumulated dring his father’s life.  Later, he receives more wealth in Egypt from King Abimelech as a result of Abraham’s deception about Sarah (Gen. 12:16) and then again after the Battle of the Valley of Siddim (Gen 14:16) from which Abraham gives the first tithe to the King Melchizedek.

The wealth and status accumulated by Abraham would later bless his son Isaac.  By the time Isaac marries and has sons of his own, due to the inheritance received from his father, Isaac is well established, both in status and  wealth. 

Timeless Principle #2: Immediate, Unquestioned Obedience to the Lord unleashes His blessings and favor.

            There are two instances in the story of Abraham that provide more than adequate illustrations for this principle.  In the very beginning of Abraham’s story (Gen. 12), the Lord commanded Abraham to “Go from your country…” after which Abraham immediately and unquestionably gathers his family and belongings to leave his home.  This is faith and obedience!  Abraham left all that he knew, the place that had been his home only to head toward an unknown destination.  Immediate, unquestioned obedience.

            The second instance of complete immediate, unquestioned obedience came some time later.  In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham unbeknownst to him, by commanding him to sacrifice his one and only son, the son that God promised him in the first place.  Despite this apparently unfathomable request we see Abraham immediately wake early the next morning and begin to make his way toward the land of Moriah to kill his son as a sacrifice to the Lord, without question.  The Lord promised Abraham previously, “for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations [past tense].  I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you (Gen.17:6-7).  That is how unshakeable this promise is.  Somehow Abraham knew that the Lord would fulfill His promise to him. This sacrifice was not the end of the promise or his son Isaac.  Abraham did not have to understand or question the Lord, he believed and obeyed!

As we all know, God spared Isaac, the promise would not die and Isaac grew into a very old wealthy man who father two sons, as his father did, Esau and Jacob and the Lord’s promise that Abraham would be the father of nations began to take shape.  Abraham’s faithful, unquestioning obedience solidified the Lord’s covenant to him.

Timeless Principle #3: God’s sovereign will in our lives will be done despite what we do.

We see this over and over throughout the Patriarchal Era.  Abraham, who is the be the father of nations, surrenders his wife, Sarah, as a sister to foreign kings, twice!  Who would be the mother of these nations? (Gen. 16:13 & Gen.20:2)  Isaac, the second father of the promise, follows in his father’s footsteps and does the same to Rebekah ( Gen 26:7).  Jacob lives his life as a deceiver stealing his elder’s brother’s birthright first, although this was preordained by God (Gen. 25:23), then stealing his dying father’s blessing from Esau as well.  He is later humbled when he sets his sights on Laban’s daughter Rachel, works in Laban’s land seven years to be able to marry her only to be deceived himself and be wed to Leah (Gen. 29:25).  In order to marry Rachel, Jacob is forced to work for Laban another 7 years (Gen.  29:27).  Joseph starts his life out as a spoiled vagrant pious young man who later becomes the second in charge of all of Egypt (Gen. 41:40).

In each of these scenarios their decisions should have cost them their blessings.  But, as evidenced above, there is nothing we can do to foil or derail God’s sovereign will for our lives. 

 

Timeless Principle #4: The Power of Intercessory Prayer – God hears our prayers.

Abraham is found standing with the Lord overlooking Sodom as the plans are set in motion to destroy the city and all its inhabitants for their sin (Gen. 18:23).  Abraham begins to intercede to the Lord on the behalf of those residing in Sodom.  What’s especially interesting is how respectfully bold Abraham is as he continually pleads with Jesus to save the city repeatedly lowering the amount of righteousness people that would need to be found in an attempt to save their lives (Gen. 18:32).  The city was not saved but the lives of his kinsman, Lot and his wife and daughters, were because Abraham interceded.

Isaac, in love and married to Rebekah, intercedes for his wife as she is barren.  He prays to the Lord his God that his wife may have children (Gen. 25:21).  God grants his request and she becomes pregnant with twins.

Timeless Principle #5: God prepares the promise as He prepares you for the promise.

As mentioned previously, Jacob had ten sons and of these ten he favored Joseph to the point of creating animosity between Joseph and his older brothers.  As if this favoritism was not sufficient ammunitions, God gives Joseph dreams one of which depicts sheaves of wheat (Joseph’s brothers) bowing down to his sheave of wheat.  The brothers’ resentment and bitterness rose to a level of hate which fostered a plan to kill him.  Reuben, the youngest of Jacob’s sons, convinces the older brothers not to kill him but to cast him into a cistern where Reuben could later retrieve Joseph (Gen. 37:21-22), or so he thought.  The Lord’s plan was different.  Joseph would be sold into slavery instead and taken from his father’s land (Gen. 37:27-28). 

            Joseph’s life continues with apparent misfortune yet the hand of the Lord was always upon him.  He was sold into slavery to an Egyptian official, the captain of the guard, Potiphar.  Potiphar recognizes Joseph’s abilities and puts him in charge of his household (Gen. 39).  This relief in his status is only curtailed by the wife of his master accusing him of sexual assault.  Because of this Joseph goes from slave to prisoner.  Even in this, the hand of the Lord is upon him.

            In prison the warden puts Joseph in charge of the rest of the prisoners.  Joseph happens to be imprisoned with two of the king’s servers, one a cupbearer and the other a baker (Gen. 40:2).  A dream needed to be interpreted and the only one that could was the God of Joseph.  Joseph interpreted the dreams and asked not to be forgotten but he was.  This resulted in continued imprisonment.  But God.

            As the cupbearer is pouring the wine of the king, the king mentions a dream he had and how he must know it’s interpretation (Gen. 41:9)  It is at this moment that the cupbearer remembers Joseph and he is called into the presence of the king to interpret his dream.  By God’s gifting of Joseph, the dream is interpreted and Joseph is made second in command of the entire region.  In his position, with God’s favor, Joseph prepares the region for a devastating famine and in doing so saves the lives of many including his own family who betrayed him. 

            From the beginning, God had a blessing, a promise, a destiny for Joseph.  As he was preparing the circumstance that would be Joseph’s blessing.  He prepared Joseph for the blessing!  Joseph recognizes this when he says, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Gen. 50:20).”

Application:

Timeless Principle #5: God prepares the promise for you as He prepares you for the promise. 

 My life has been a series of twists, turns and trials.  I started out as a Psychology major after high school, joined the Air Force after my first year.  Married my college sweetheart while in the Air Force.  Three children and a Paralegal Studies degree later end up as a Paralegal for 16 years.  Within those 16 years, I endured trial after trial.  From monetary struggles, parenting struggles, housing and even marital struggles that almost ended my marriage.  I found myself in 2020 questioning God whether this was my lot in life.  Was a mom, wife and Paralegal my mission field?  Is this all He wanted of me?  I resigned to the fact it was and decided that I would be and do all of the above in the most God honoring way possible and be grateful.  All the while, God was preparing the promise while preparing me for the promise He had for me.

All these apparent insignificant turns and trials prepared me for a life in full-time ministry focused on discipleship and spiritual care that I never imagined for myself.  Every trial, class and circumstance faced I can see now was preparation for what it is He has me doing for His Kingdom today.

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Friend, your life has purpose.  Your trials and apparent turns are all part of a greater plan IF you give it all to the One who knew you before time ever began.

 

 

References:

 The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2016

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Study Bible, Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2011