(Part 2) The Rest is *Salvation* History
The Bible in a Year Reflections: Part 2- The Patriarchal Period
This is Part 2 of a series of articles that give the reader some take-aways and further insight from the various periods of Salvation History that are featured on the Bible in a Year Podcast. For an introduction to the series and an overview of the Early World period, click here:
Today, we will be looking at the second period from Jeff Cavins’s Bible Timeline, The Patriarchs. This time period is full of spiritual fruits, interesting details, and- of course- the furthering of God’s covenantal relationship with humanity. For this article, I am utilizing the Ascension app’s “Introduction to the Patriarchal Period” as the framework to cover the major themes of exploration for this period. It will not have a primary focus on the narrative events unless they are related to those themes.
Periodic Overview
Events
The second period in Salvation History, “The Patriarchs”, covers the lineage from Noah all the way to Joseph. Along the way, God chooses Abram Abraham to further the Covenantal relationship with humanity. That relationship touches the lives of the descendants to follow, namely Isaac, Jacob Israel, and Joseph, among countless others.
Major Figures
Abraham, Sarah, Lot, Melchizedek, Isaac, Rebecca, Esau, Israel, Leah, Rachel, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.
Themes
Furthering of the Covenant, The Binding of Isaac, The Priest and King of Salem- Melchizedek, and Failed Firstborns
Furthering of the Covenant
The Patriarchal Period begins with a genealogy from Noah all the way down to Abram (who will now be referred to as “Abraham”). For modern readers, these biblical genealogies will often result in skipping the passage altogether; however, genealogies are very important in Salvation History. Essentially, they are a narrative technique that signal to the reader that something seismic is happening. The Sacred Author is telling his reader, “Whoever this genealogy concludes with is going to be very important!”
To call Abraham important to Salvation History is an understatement. St. Paul put it best when he called Abraham, “The father of all those who have faith” (Galatians 3:7). Following God’s covenant with Noah that wiped out humanity to start over with a righteous Chosen People, Abraham will be the “first fruits” of God’s new plan to bring humanity into right relationship with Himself. It all started with a three-fold-promise: a great land (The Promised Land), a great name (many descendants), and a great blessing that will extend to all humanity.
God called Abraham away from the land of his father and into a trusting relationship. God’s promise particularly interests Abraham with the implication that Abraham will have an heir, something that was seemingly impossible with his barren wife Sarah (Genesis 12:2-4).
God moves slowly with Abraham, building up trust over time. God calls Abraham into hostile territory and gives him victory in his battles (Genesis 13-14). Still, Abraham feels the anxiety and worry that Sarah will never give birth to his heir. It is here (Genesis 15) that a major test is passed by Abraham, and the reader may not notice if they aren’t paying close enough attention to the small details.
When Abraham raises his worry about his barren wife to God, a key detail from later in the chapter helps to set the stage. All of the following events take place on the same day:
In Genesis 15:12, we read that Abraham offered sacrifice to God and soon after “the sun was about to set”. This means that anything before this, like a conversation with God, would have taken place during the day.
Now, we look back to Genesis 15:5, “[God] took [Abraham] outside and said: ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so,’ he added, ‘will your descendants be’”. Combining these two passages, we realize that God calls Abraham out in the middle of the day, meaning that there are no stars in the sky. Abraham has two options to believe:
1.) He will have no descendants because there are no stars in the sky.
2.) He will have so many descendants that they will be as innumerable as trying to count stars in the day time.
This is why Abraham’s faith in God is then, “attributed to him as an act of righteousness.” This leads to the extension of the Covenant with its sign- circumcision. (It takes A LOT of faith to willing circumcise yourself at the age of 99!) Abraham’s faith and trust in God has grown to the point of radicality, and that is evidenced by the next event in his life.
Binding of Isaac
We know the story- Sarah miraculously conceived a son, he is named Isaac, and they all lived happily ever after without any fear, worries, or tests!. . . Well, not so much. Abraham has demonstrated such faithfulness up until this point that God is ensuring that he can truly be the seed from which the Chosen People spring forth. There needs to be a final test.
Isaac, naturally, is Abraham’s greatest earthly blessing. Against all odds, God worked in miracle in Sarah that she conceive a son in her old age. Not only will Abraham’s bloodline continue, but it will continue through a son of his wife and not his slave. All of this makes what God asks of Abraham next truly a sacrifice of the heart- the offering of Isaac as a sacrifice.
As we already know, Abraham has displayed radical trust in God until this point, and he continues in that pattern. Abraham brings Isaac along with him to Mount Moriah. At the last moment, an angel is sent to stop the sacrifice. Not only is Isaac spared, but Abraham receives a promise of the deepening of the Covenant by God Himself (Genesis 22:1-19).
Abraham clearly had trust in God, to the point that he believed that God would raise the dead. Think about it- God ensured that it would be through ISAAC that Abraham’s descendants would come. If God was calling for a sacrifice of Isaac that would result in Isaac’s death BEFORE Isaac had any children of his own, then Abraham offered the sacrifice trusting that God would bring Isaac back to life to continue the bloodline. Again, Abraham was RADICAL with his trust in God.
Abraham wasn’t the only one demonstrating a high level of trust in God. For centuries, biblical commentaries note that Isaac was just as willing in the sacrifice. Abraham is well-advanced in years at this point in his life, and Isaac is a young man. That would mean that Isaac is the one who carries the wood up the mountain, meaning that he’s very strong. If he’s stronger than his father, then he would have to willingly be bound to the altar in order to be sacrificed. Like father, like son- Isaac radically trusted in God, too.
Another note about biblical commentaries on the “Binding of Isaac”- writers have made the connection between the actions of Isaac and the Crucifixion of Christ.
Isaac is the only son of Abraham/ Jesus is the only Son of God
Isaac carries the wood for the sacrifice/ Jesus carries the cross of His sacrifice
Isaac is to be offered on Mount Moriah/ Jesus is offered on Mount Calvary
(Mount Moriah is in the same mountain range as Mount Calvary)
The Priest and King of Salem- Melchizedek
As mentioned in part 1 of T.R.I.S.H., there is a theory that Shem, the righteous first-born of Noah, makes another appearance in Genesis. While this can’t be 100% confirmed, according to Dr. John Bergsma in “Jesus and the Old Testament Roots of the Priesthood”, many early Jewish commentators wrote as if Melchizedek was indeed Shem. I highly recommend his book for a more thorough analysis, but here’s the gist of it:
Those born before the Flood had a much longer life-span. Since Shem was born before the Flood, it is possible that his life crossed over with that of Abraham. If that’s the case, their meeting in Genesis 14 is a meeting of Patriarchs from different generations- how cool!
In Genesis 14:18, we read that Melchizedek is a “priest of God of the Most High”. Not many humans were worshipping the God of Abraham at this time if they weren’t directly associated with Abraham. The fact that Melchizedek knows and worships God would imply that someone had to teach him about God…. Perhaps his father, Noah?
Melchizedek comes out and blesses Abraham. In the Old Testament, blessings follow the concept of “you can’t give what you don’t have”. For Melchizedek to bless Abraham in the name of God, Melchizedek would have to have received that blessing before. Since the Flood wiped out humanity, the reader could make the argument that Melchizedek’s blessing would have logically come from the only one to be in relationship with God- Noah. Those blessings were reserved for the first-born son. Noah’s first born son is- Shem!
Lastly, we know from the incident with Ham uncovering his father’s nakedness that Shem was not only a first-born-son, but he was a RIGHTEOUS first-born. If you translate Melchizedek from Hebrew into English, you get “King of RIGHTEOUSNESS”. Shem’s kingly and priestly status would indeed be a result of the righteousness he displayed earlier in Genesis 9.
Again, this all just a theory, but it’s a plausible one, and many Jewish biblical scholars believed it, as well.
Regardless of one’s stance on the identity of Melchizedek, we know that the Priest-King is a foreshadowing, or type, of Christ.
Melchizedek is a righteous priest and king of Salem/ Jesus is the Divine High Priest and King of Jerusalem (yes, they are the same city!)
Melchizedek’s sacrifice is bread and wine/ Jesus’ sacrifice is memorialized and made truly present in the Eucharist as the transubstantiated bread and wine (It is TRULY His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity)
Melchizedek has possession of the priesthood/ In St. Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews Chapters 5 and 7, we read that Christ’ priesthood is in the line of Melchizedek
Failed Firstborns
The final theme in the Patriarchal period is the failure of the firstborns. Sadly, Abraham and Isaac’s faithfulness on Mount Moriah is the last time in Genesis that a first-born acts righteously.
Esau
Esau sells his birthright to his younger brother, Jacob (later Israel), in exchange for…. bean stew? (Genesis 25:33) Not the best decision. Later, Jacob steals the blessing of the first-born from his brother. Esau sells the inheritance, and the blessing is stolen from him. Jacob receives everything that belongs to the first born because of this.
Reuben
Reuben makes a mistake similar to that of Ham, a sin against a woman that belongs to his father, Israel. We read that Reuben takes one of Israel’s concubines (Genesis 35:22) and is cursed as a result (Genesis 49:4). Judah seemingly takes on the blessing of the first born (Genesis 49:8-12) because of Reuben’s sin and that of the second and third oldest brothers, Simeon and Levi (Genesis 34).
Abraham/Isaac
Abraham and Isaac both sin in the same way, abandoning their wives when adversity arises. When entering hostile territory, both of these men try to pass off their wives as their sisters so that their lives may be spared (Genesis 12, 20, and 26). While Abraham and Isaac are faithful when it matters most, you can still view this as a failure of the first born.
The Patriarchal period ends with the book of Genesis, seeing the Israelites making their new home in Egypt- a land of plenty. All seems to go well for them in this foreign land until they need God to initiate a rescue plan. From there, we are led to the book of Exodus. Until then, the rest is *Salvation* History. . .