Starter- Name as many people as you can that God or an angel spoke to directly.

Abraham To know the account of Abraham and the Blessing To know why this account is important

Abraham The aim of the next few lessons is to cover the main parts of Jewish history which we find in the Old Testament. We will skim quickly over some parts and take time to study others in detail. The stories that we will focus on are the ones that are most relevant to your GCSE next year.

In the beginning… The first account in the bible is the account of creation. God created the world in 6 days and rested on the seventh. Next came Adam and Eve. They were the first people and lived in the garden of Eden. They were sinless and innocent. They were able to be with God, there was no barrier between Him and them. Sadly they sinned and were thrown out of the garden and eventually died.

Before they died, they had three sons: Cain Abel Seth One day Cain and Abel made sacrifices to God. Abel sacrificed his best lamb and God was pleased. Cain offered some plants that he did not really want. God was pleased with Abel and so Cain was jealous and killed him. He was forced to leave and went to a place called Nod. So only Seth was left.

Each of the following had many children but we only need worry about the eldest. Also Cain’s descendents would have inhabited the earth too. (until the flood) Seth had a son called… Enosh who had a son called… Kenan who had a son called… Mahalalel who had a son called… Jared who had a son called… Enoch who had a son called… Methuselah who had a son called… Lamech who had a son called… Noah who had an ark and three sons…(he was Seth’s great great great great great great grandson) Shem, Ham, and Japheth. All of us today are descended from Noah as all the other inhabitants were wiped out by the flood.

Shem had a son called… Arphaxad had a son called… Shelah who had a son called Eber had a son called… Peleg had a son called… Reu had a son called… Serug. had a son called… Nahor had a son called… Terah. had a son called… Abram and it is Abram (later Abraham) who we are going to look at in detail first.

Copy the family tree from the next slide

Old Testament Family Tree Adam & Eve Cain Seth Abel Various descendents Seven generations Was murdered before he got the chance Noah Ham Shem Japheth Seven generations Loads of seafaring descendents. Spread all over the world Many descendents. Including Nomrod the great hunter Abram

The Story of Abram and the Covenant http://www.bricktestament.com/genesis/god_chooses_abram/01_gn11_10p12-25.html So God told Abram to leave Haran and go to live in Canaan. Abram took his wife and his nephew Lot and left. God then promised Abram the land of Canaan for his descendents. Why would Abram have been confused when God spoke of Abram’s “descendents”? In what ways did Abram show faith in God? Why do you think God chose Abram to be the father of his chosen nation. Was the anything special about him?

The Story of Abram and the Covenant http://www.bricktestament.com/genesis/god_plans_enslavement_of_abrams_descendants/01_gn15_01.html What did God tell Abram about his heir? What prophecy did God make? What did God promise Abram? Which nation would later enslave Abram’s descendents? What was Abram’s part of the bargain?

Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian slave-girl named Hagar.  

Sarai, Abram’s wife suggested a way that he could have a Son

http://www. bricktestament http://www.bricktestament.com/genesis/abram_impregnates_slave-girl/04_gn16_04.html What mistake did Abram make? Who suffered as a result of this mistake?

God renamed him Abraham, meaning father of nations and he named Sarai, Sarah meaning princess.

Abraham and the Covenant What is a covenant? What was the covenant between God and Abraham. (What did God agree to do? What was Abraham supposed to do?) If God chose Abraham for his faith and he failed to trust God. What might God do next? Why was Isaac so important to Abraham (try to find 3 reasons)

Homework