The numbers refer to the chapters.
12) God tells Abram to leave his country, Haran, and travel to a far off land where God will make a great nation from his offspring. Abram leaves Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all their possessions.
They arrive in the land of Canaan. When they reach the Oak of Moreh, God tells Abram that this is the land which will be given to his offspring. Abram builds an altar and sets up a tent as a home.
There was a famine, so Abram & Co. go to Egypt to wait it out.
Abram tells Sarai (who is later revealed to be his half-sister) to say that she is his sister, not his wife, because she is beautiful and he is worried that the Egyptians will kill him and take her away.
Abram sells Sarai to the Pharaoh for lots of sheep, oxen, donkeys, servants and camels. The Pharaoh marries Sarai.
God afflicts the Pharaoh's house with great plagues because the Pharaoh married another man's wife. The Pharaoh asks Abram why he lied, then sends Abram & Co. away.
13) Abram & Co go back to their tent. Abram tells Lot to go away. Lot decides to go to the Jordan Valley, all the way to the city of Sodom.
14) In the Valley of Siddim, the armies of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela battle the armies of the kings of Elam, Goiim, Shinar and Ellasar. Four kings against five.
The four win, loot Sodom and Gomorrah, and take Lot prisoner.
Abram is told of his nephew's plight, so gathers his trained men, all 318 of them, and sets off to rescue Lot. Abram's force attacks at night, wins, and recues all the prisoners and looted possessions.
The kings of Sodom and Salem meet Abram when he returns from his victory. The king of Salem, a priest of God, blesses Abram. Abram gives him a tenth of the spoils.
The king of Sodom wants to thank Abram, telling him to take all the rescued goods for himself, but Abram refuses them.
15) Abram is worried about not having had any children yet. God tells him not to worry because his offspring will be as numerous as the stars.
God asks Abram for a 3-year old heifer (a childless cow), a 3-year old goat, a 3-year old ram, a turtledove and a pigeon. Abram gets all these, kills them, cuts all but the birds in half, and lays them out next to each other.
Abram falls into a deep sleep. God tells Abram that his offspring will be servants in a foreign land for 400 years, but not to worry about it because God will pass judgement on the nation they are forced to serve.
16) Sarai is worried about having had any children yet. She tells Abram to 'go in to' Hagar, a servant of theirs. Abram takes Hagar as another wife, goes in to her, and she conceives.
Hagar, feeling empowered for having conceived so quickly, gives Sarai a look of contempt. Sarai gets angry. Hagar flees.
An angel finds Hagar by a spring, and tells her to go back home and submit to her mistress. Hagar does so. Hagar's child is a boy: Ishmael.
17) God appears to Abram and asks him to walk with him. Abram falls on his face. God tells Abram that he shall be the father of a multitude of nations; he shall be exceedingly fruitful; his descendants will be kings; the land of Canaan will belong to his descendants; that this shall be an everlasting covenant; and that henceforth he shall be known as ABRAHAM!
('Abram' means 'exalted father'; 'Abraham' means 'father of a multitude')
God tells Abraham his side of the covenant: every male must be circumcised, their foreskins removed. This is the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. The male who is 8 days old must be circumcised. Every male, whether relative, servant or slave, must be circumcised.
God tells Abraham that Sarai must now be called Sarah, and promises that Sarah will conceive a son, who shall be called Isaac.
When he had finished speaking, God went up from Abraham.
That very day all the males of Abraham's household were circumcised.
18) God appears to Abraham in the form of three men (early trinity reference?). Abraham offers them food and water, which they accept.
God tells Abraham that Sarah will have a son about this time next year.
19) Two angels arrive in Sodom and meet Lot at the gate to the city. The angels enter Lot's house and have a feast.
All the men of Sodom surround Lot's house and ask for the angels to be brought out so they can 'know' them.
Understanding that by 'know' the men mean 'rape', Lot tries to calm the situation down by offering his two virgin daughters to the rapacious crowd, saying:
“I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
This angers the men, because they really want those angels. They try to break into the house.
The angels intervene, striking all the crowd blind, and ask Lot if he has anyone else in the city, because it is about to be destroyed. Lot tells his future son-in-laws to leave the city because it is about to be destroyed. They think he is joking. Big mistake.
The following morning the angels urged Lot to leave quickly. Lot dawdles. They are running out of time. The angels grab Lot, his wife and daughters by their hands and take them out of the city, and tell them to run for their lives, without looking back.
Lot & Co. flee to the city of Zoar. God rains fire and sulphur down from Heaven on to Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying the cities and all their inhabitants. Lot's wife looks back at the destruction, and becomes a pillar of salt.
Lot and his daughters move into a cave.
Lot's daughters are worried about not having had any children yet, so hatch a fiendish plan:
On the first night, they give Lot wine, get him drunk, and the older daughter has sex with him.
On the second night, they give Lot wine, get him drunk, and the younger daughter has sex with him.
They have a son each: Moab and Ben-ammi.
(When I first read that chapter I had to stop reading, thinking 'That's enough Bible for today.')
20) Abraham and Sarah visit the land of Gerar, where they play the Egypt trick again:
They pretend not to be married, say that Sarah is Abraham's sister. and get Sarah married to Abimelech, King of Gerar.
God visits Abimelech in a dream and tells him that he is a dead man because the woman he has taken is already a man's wife.
Abimelech tells God that he did not know this, because they had said that they were siblings. God says that he understands, but that Abimelech muct return Sarah to Abraham or be killed.
When he wakes up, Abimelech asks Abraham why he did all this lying. He answers:
“I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
Abimelech returns Sarah, gives Abraham some silver, sheep, oxen, and servants, and tells him that he can stay in Gerar as long as he likes.
Abraham prays, and God removes the curse he had placed on the house of Abimelech because of Sarah: God allowed them to bear children again; he had closed all their wombs.
21) Sarah gives birth to Isaac, just as God said she would.
Sarah decides she doesn't like having Hagar and Ishmael around, and asks Abraham to get rid of them. God tells Abraham that he should do as his wife says. He sends them away with some bread and water.
Hagar and Ishmael wander the wilderness of Beersheba, and run out of water. Hagar leaves Ishmael under a bush and walks off, not wanting to see her child die. She sits down and weeps.
God hears their cries. An angel tells Hagar to pick up Ishmael, for he shall become a create nation. She opens her eyes and sees a well of water. They are saved. Ishmael grows up in the wilderness and becomes an expert archer.
22) God decides to test Abraham, saying to him:
“Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Abraham goes to the land of Moriah with his son and two servants, and finds the place where God wants Isaac killed. He says to his servants:
“Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
On the way, Isaac asks his father where the sacrificial lamb is. Abraham replies that God will provide one.
They arrive at the place where God wants the sacrifice. Abraham builds an altar, piles the wood, ties up Isaac and lays him out on top.
Abraham is ready to slaughter Isaac with the knife.
An angel intervenes, saying:
“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
Abraham looks around and sees a ram caught by its thorns in a thicket, so sacrifices it instead of Isaac.
The angel tells Abraham:
“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
23) Sarah dies at the age of 127. Abraham asks the Hittites (the people of the land where he is living) for a place to bury her. The Hittites say that Abraham can bury Sarah wherever he likes, because he's awesome. Abraham says that he would like to bury Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah, which is at the end of a field owned by Ephron.
Ephron says Abraham can have the field and the cave. Abraham says he would like to pay for the field. Abraham pays for the field, and buries Sarah in the cave.
24) Abraham is now very old. He tells his oldest servant to go to his old country and find a wife for Isaac, and ensure that she comes back here. Isaac must not move to her.
The servant goes to the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia, and rests at a well of water, at the time when women go out to get water. The servant asks God to grant him success.
Before he had finished talking to God, Rebekah came out to collect some water. She was very attractive. The servant runs up to her and asks for water, which she provides for him and his camels.
The servant gives her some jewellery, asks who her father is and whether there is room and his house to stay the night.
Rebekah's brother, Laban, runs out the servant and tells him to come in and rest. The servant explains his purpose for being here, and that he intends to take Rebekah to be Isaac's wife. The family says OK. The servant gives many costly things to Rebekah and her family before heading off back to Abraham with the woman.
Isaac happens to be out in the field meditating when he sees them returning on their camels. The servant tells Isaac that this woman is to be his wife.
'Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.'
25) Abraham gets a new wife called Keturah, and has more children. He also has children from concubines, but he sent them away after giving them gifts.
Abraham's favourite is Isaac, to whom he gives everything. Abraham dies at the age of 175, he is buried with Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah.
Isaac is worried about not having had any children from Rebekah yet, so prays to God for help. God grants the prayer; Rebekah conceives twins. God says to Rebekah:
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger.”
The twins are born:
'The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob.'
Esau grew to be a skilful hunter, and his father's favourite.
Jacob grew to be a quiet man who spent a lot of time inside, and was his mother's favourite.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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